Meeting of the Parliament 28 May 2025
I always find it unfortunate when money is able to put people nearer the front of the queue. I do not say that to in any way insult the people who do that—it is just a problem for me.
That said—this is not an alternative—ADHD and other neurodevelopmental conditions can be suspected and even identified without a diagnosis, and the support that a toddler or child requires might not include medication. That is not to dismiss medication and diagnosis, because they matter, but there might be appropriate temporary or permanent options. For example, early intervention at school or nursery might be preferable as a first step. That will also support other children, as it will avoid all the other children having to be decanted into the playground almost daily when one child disrupts a class or a nursery.
I say that in the context of recent constituency cases. I had a fruitful and focused conversation with the director of education, the principal educational psychologist and the chief education officer from Scottish Borders Council. The upshot is that, in three primary schools, tailored support has been provided to individual children under what the education team describes as a 12-week process. That appears to work in the interests of the class and of the individual child, and the situation of classes having been disrupted appears to be improving. I cannot say whether medication is involved for those individual children, but those interventions, with support, are certainly working. Diagnosis and medication matter, but other steps can be taken in place of or in addition to diagnosis and medication.
I stress that my submission about other interventions is not to sidestep, dismiss or minimise diagnosis and medication but simply to illustrate that those may be—I stress the words “may be”—unnecessary in whole or in part.