Student Health Shelves Free ADHD Assessment Rollout After Funding Falls Through

Plans for Student Health to offer free ADHD assessments from trimester two will not go ahead after the service failed to secure the additional funding needed to run them without worsening wait times for other patients.

Student Health Director Kevin Rowlatt told Salient the proposed service would have required extra clinical staff, with an in-house pathway estimated to cost between $200,000 and $300,000 each year.

“We were not able to secure that additional funding at this stage,” Rowlatt said. Providing assessments within existing resources would increase waits for other appointments, particularly during the busiest parts of trimesters one and two.

At the beginning of the year, Rowlatt said he was confident funding would be found. He now describes that confidence as “misplaced,” saying he had hoped the Government’s expansion of ADHD prescribing rights would be accompanied by a funding pathway or subsidy.

That has not happened. Ministry of Health guidance says ADHD services are not included in core general-practice funding, meaning patients may still be charged for assessment and treatment even where a GP or nurse practitioner has trained to provide them.

From 1 February, vocationally registered specialist GPs and nurse practitioners have been permitted to diagnose ADHD and initiate stimulant medication for adults. However, offering the service is voluntary and the Ministry has warned that access will develop gradually as clinicians gain training and experience.

The Ministry says a comprehensive assessment generally takes one to two hours across one or more appointments, before treatment planning and follow-up are added.

For students seeking a diagnosis now, Rowlatt said Mauri Ora can provide a list of psychiatrists and telehealth clinics offering assessments. Some accept self-referrals, while others require a referral from a GP.

Students needing a referral can book a roughly 30-minute nurse pre-assessment through Student Health. The nurse gathers health history and observations before a GP appointment, where the doctor can refer the student to a psychiatrist for formal assessment and diagnosis.

Students can also go directly to a psychiatrist and ask Student Health to provide any medical information the clinician requires. Rowlatt said this was usually the simplest pathway, but it remains expensive. Private assessments on the providers’ list generally cost between $900 and $1,800, depending on the complexity of the assessment and whether other conditions need to be considered. The cost will not be subsidised by Student Health.

A further pathway is available to students diagnosed by a clinical psychologist. Where the psychologist’s report recommends stimulant medication, a Mauri Ora multidisciplinary team can review it before the student attends a nurse observation appointment and meets a GP to discuss beginning treatment.

Students who already have a diagnosis and recommendation from a New Zealand or overseas psychiatrist can bring their records to Student Health. A GP may then be able to start or continue medication without requiring a new assessment—an important change for international students who previously risked paying to repeat the diagnostic process after arriving in New Zealand.

The free assessment plan has not been permanently abandoned. Rowlatt said the national primary-care landscape remains uncertain and many practices are still deciding whether to offer ADHD services.

“The door is certainly not closed,” he said. “This is something that we need to offer.”

For general Student Health appointments, Rowlatt said the wait was within a week the time of the interview, with some same-day capacity. Students seeking a particular part-time doctor may still wait several weeks.

Even students who obtain prescriptions may face another barrier: Pharmac expects methylphenidate supply disruptions to continue through 2026.