More Swedish children than ever before are being diagnosed with ADHD, and the government believes that private care companies are largely to blame for the extreme increase.

– There is a structure here that in practice means that diagnoses are sold for payment, explains Social Affairs Minister Jakob Forssmed (KD).

The government notes that long waiting times in health care have long been a major problem in Sweden – and especially in specialized psychiatric care.

This is said to have led to more and more people choosing to turn to privately funded providers instead – not least for the assessment, investigation and treatment of neuropsychiatric disabilities.

– Today, there are a large number of private providers offering ADHD assessments and medication alongside publicly funded care. We must ensure that people’s patient safety is not compromised by this and, in addition, also analyze how it affects other patients and the healthcare system as a whole, says Minister for Social Affairs Jakob Forssmed.

The Minister is highly critical of the way many private operators work and says that it often seems to be a case of healthcare companies charging patients for diagnoses.

– There are so many indications that these are set in such a way that one can suspect this and it is clear that then it has consequences for health care.

Want to get rid of “opportunists”

– You may not be able to trust these diagnoses when they are made in this way. Individuals do not receive support and help regarding a possible co-morbidity. It is not a person-centered care but a diagnosis-centered care, and it needs to be reviewed of course, he continues.

Forssmed also points out that private healthcare providers often market themselves by promising quick results, that the investigation can be carried out in whole or in part remotely on the internet, or that the patient will even get their money back if there is no diagnosis.

– We need to ensure that healthcare resources are used properly and that it is provided by serious actors and not by opportunists who mislead people into seeking answers in individual diagnoses.

The increase continues

It should be emphasized that the Moderate-led government is basically positive to private care companies – and does not want to ban them from conducting ADHD investigations.

However, it does want the Health and Social Care Inspectorate to carry out a special inspection of private care providers and the Agency for Health and Social Care Analysis to map and analyze the risks of certain privately funded care.

According to a forecast by the National Board of Health and Welfare, approximately 15% of boys in Sweden and almost 11% of girls will be diagnosed with ADHD in the future. Between 2019 and 2022 alone, the number of diagnoses among children and young people increased by as much as 50% – but no concrete reason for the increase has been established.

– We see no tendency for the increase to slow down, says the Minister for Social Affairs.