Enhancing ADHD Care in General Practice

By Ruth campbell

Rainbow Butterfly

There’s some exciting change happening in Western Australia.

A small cohort of GPs are currently undertaking additional training through the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners to formally assess, diagnose and medically manage ADHD. I’m incredibly excited to say that I’m nearly at the end of this training program myself. Inspired by the rapidly changing knowledge about ADHD and the many real life struggles I have seen my patients face, I am optimistic about the difference we can make.

This initiative feels like a natural and meaningful expansion of work many of us in general practice have already been doing for years — supporting pediatricians and psychiatrists in caring for children and adults with ADHD and other forms of neurodivergence. Yet now we will be able to take more of the workload. The hope is simple: reduce wait times, improve affordability, and make quality care more accessible for families who are often left waiting far too long for support. The current wait time for a developmental appointment can range from 6 months to 3 years!

So often I meet children, teenagers and families who are struggling — not because there is something “wrong” with them, but because they are trying to fit themselves into systems and expectations that were never designed with neurodivergence in mind. My hope is that, over time, society will continue adapting to better support varied learners, thinkers and ways of being. In the meantime, I’m grateful to be able to help families navigate some of those challenges.

I genuinely love working with children, adolescents and their families, and gaining additional skills in this area will help me continue growing into a better doctor. I know many have suffered because of their ADHD symptoms but I love to highlight their ADHD superpowers. People with ADHD are capable of incredible things and often think in incredible ways. They have brought much joy and innovation to all of our lives especially when the constraints of sitting still in a classroom have been removed. When we are able to harness their style of learning, alongside supporting and encouraging their special interests, and then allow them to move their bodies to focus their minds, people with ADHD will quite literally or figuratively shoot for the moon! Or study medicine.

Of course, there will absolutely be times when the diagnosis and management of ADHD are not appropriate for a GP to handle alone. The college has introduced clear exclusion criteria around the types of patients that can be managed independently in general practice, and I actually see this as a strength of the program rather than a limitation. Good medicine is collaborative medicine. I’ll continue working alongside experienced pediatricians and psychiatrists, seeking advice when needed and ensuring I remain within my scope while helping bridge important gaps in care.

Every day I am learning more about ADHD, autism and the evolving understanding of how neurodivergence affects people across different stages of life. And so much of that learning comes directly from listening to my patients. One of the greatest privileges of being a GP is the trust patients place in us when they share their worries, their past, their hopes and dreams, their struggles, their exhaustion, their fears and sometimes the relief that comes with finally feeling understood.What excites me most is the opportunity to help people do more than simply survive the hard days. I want to help people thrive.

When I was younger — a very fresh-faced idealist — I once told a dear cousin that one day I would change the world. The rocky roads of life and years of experience have humbled me a little since then. And I now know I probably can’t change the world. But maybe that was never the point. Maybe we are able to help change someone’s world. Even if just a little. Maybe the real goal is helping people find their own individual spark, and in doing so, brighten their world.