To ask the Scottish Government whether additional resources will be allocated to recruit and retain trained attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) specialists.
Scottish Government sets the strategic policy direction for the NHS in Scotland, operational matters – including the recruitment and training of staff – are in the first instance the responsibility of the relevant NHS Board.
We continue to work closely with Health Boards and clinical professionals across Scotland to understand any specific challenges they are facing in the recruitment and training of specialist staff needed to support people with ADHD.
We continue to fund NHS Education for Scotland (NES) and the National Autism Implementation Team (NAIT) to deliver professional learning to improve the Scottish workforce’s knowledge and skills about Neurodivergence, including Autism and ADHD.
To address specific challenges in the recruitment and retention of psychiatrists in Scotland we established a Working Group which recently reported to Ministers, 23 June 2025. Funding also continues to be provided to Boards for the additional roles to help mental health pharmacy services including within community mental health pharmacy support to improve medication use and prescribing practices.