Has anyone paid to go private for ADHD diagnosis?

[LoganRoy]

Looking for recommendations thank you.

Lots of Americans on Twitter swear by having an adhd coach, I'm not sure if such a thing exists in the uk and I'm sure it wouldn't be cheap.

My dx has really helped because I've been able to forgive myself for cocking up and plan better knowing that trying harder isn't an option really and it's not a personal failure but a symptom of a condition.

Despite getting shared care I've not taken meds for about 3 months now because I've failed to order them and pick them up in the timescales, pretty sure a months supply has gone back to the manufacturer because I've not picked it up in time and I'm not sure what to do next. Classic adhd, got 85% in my last MSc essay but I can't work out picking up prescriptions.

@pianolessons1

It's not that we don't want to help, it's that ADHD drugs are potentially dangerous and addictive and have a significant street value. They are listed as shared care which means we have to have an NHS consultant involved - if we agree to prescribe for patients who have gone private then invariably the patient stops paying to see their consultant and we are left with an unacceptable legal risk from prescribing. I don't think I should say which firms are considered good/bad as it may be considered libellous. We don't enjoy working in such an underfunded system.

Untreated adhd has very poor outcomes, reduced life expectancy, high risk of injury, addiction, unemployment. I personally despite having a very supportive family and good education, combination of which I'm sure has saved my life, have had several mental health crises which have led to me being unable to work as I recover. I drink too much alcohol when I'm not on medication, it was only when I started taking meds that I realized I had an issue. Yet my doctor shrugs her shoulders and tells me I'm not sick enough for treatment. I was offered antidepressants.

Now I'm super lucky to be able to afford private care when needed. But then you've got a two tier system that not everyone can access. If a doctor can write a private prescription I don't understand why they can't arrange shared care. My low dose elvanse can't have much street value. None of the drug dealers I've known have ever had slow releasing lisdexamfetamine. Although admittedly I've not spoken to a drug dealer in 20 years, maybe times have changed.

I know the nhs is underfunded, but I'm sure part of the issue is not understanding how serious adhd is and how poor outcomes can be turned around with treatment. Women get a particularly raw deal as diagnosis is centred around boys, so girls are less likely to be diagnosed and mothering with adhd is incredibly difficult.

Private paychiatrists often refuse to engage in shared care.

I am in very much the same position as Wonderstuff and fortunate to be able to afford the private care. I strongly believe that my precious mental health difficulties all stemmed from ADHD and that my life would have been very different had I been treated sooner. This would also have been much cheaper in the long run!

@pianolessons1

It's not that we don't want to help, it's that ADHD drugs are potentially dangerous and addictive and have a significant street value. They are listed as shared care which means we have to have an NHS consultant involved - if we agree to prescribe for patients who have gone private then invariably the patient stops paying to see their consultant and we are left with an unacceptable legal risk from prescribing. I don't think I should say which firms are considered good/bad as it may be considered libellous. We don't enjoy working in such an underfunded system.

But children can be prescribed ADHD meds far more easily than adults so that argument is flawed. If GPs wanted to help then I see no reason why they can't refer to MH professionals instead of fobbing people off for years. It's not a GP's place to diagnose.

I can refer. But a child will wait 6 months to be seen and an adult one or two years. That wait isn't in my control.

@pianolessons1

I can refer. But a child will wait 6 months to be seen and an adult one or two years. That wait isn't in my control.

Why are GPs so reluctant to refer for neurodivergent conditions? It seems universal to be fobbed off and told you are imagining it. What happens from the GP's perspective when a patient presents?

piano thanks for taking the time to help see it from a GP’s perspective, it’s really helpful. Say if someone went private, but to someone who saw NHS and private patients - would that help in terms of a GP agreeing shared care? That’s if the consultant agreed to SC of course.

I'm not even slightly reluctant to refer. But I know I'm referring to a big pile of referrals in an office somewhere, rather than a functional service.

@LoganRoy

piano thanks for taking the time to help see it from a GP’s perspective, it’s really helpful. Say if someone went private, but to someone who saw NHS and private patients - would that help in terms of a GP agreeing shared care? That’s if the consultant agreed to SC of course.

I've corresponded with multiple private psychiatrists on this and not yet met one who would sign a proper shared care agreement. Not saying there aren't any, I just haven't found one yet. Some did NHS work too.

I paid and basically the attitude towards dd’s school and her own father was that I paid to get the diagnosis I wanted.

I then waited another 3 years to get the same diagnosis from the NHS and he still didn’t believe it but that is another story,

The meds do work, I get them via camhs.

She only wants to take them for school and that is fine. However, she had started to take them again this week to get ready for school. She has completely reorganised her bedroom three times. 🤣 she is so much calmer on them.

Psychiatry UK do shared care, they are also providers of NHS Right to Choose.

Psychiatry UK are currently overwhelmed and have an approx 16 week wait between diagnosis and start of medication titration. I don’t know where to go.

Have you spoken to Clinical Partners?

@mallowvalley

Psychiatry UK do shared care, they are also providers of NHS Right to Choose.

If they are the one I'm thinking of, they have no one who is qualified to prescribe and you can't do shared care with a non prescriber. Though it is possible that I'm thinking of another group.

@hiplip

I used Psychiatry UK.

This, best money spent.

Psychiatry UK have a Consultant Psychiatrist who specialises in adhd.

Adhd always needs medication to keep it under control if at all possible because people with adhd engage in behaviours which actually seriously affect our health and wellbeing.

Psychiatry UK have large list of psychiatrists, and each one states their speciality. They are registered with NHS so anyone can choose to go there, paid for by NHS. But next available appointment for ADHD assessment is June next year, then titration another 6 months or so. I think a lot of their docs just do a couple of appointments per day, maybe evenings, hence the waiting list being so long.

Psychiatry UK are definitely prescribers

@mallowvalley

Psychiatry UK are definitely prescribers

Fine, it's another one I'm thinking of that has no prescribers.

ADHD 360 are also prescribers but their website doesn't state if the diagnosis is from a nurse, psychologist or a psychiatrist. I'd prefer an actual psychiatrist as my diagnosis would be more likely to be taken seriously by any subsequent NHS person. Although NHS psychologists and MH nurses can diagnosis so... 🤷‍♂️

Yes this is also an issue that not always clear who is doing the diagnosing

My lack of diagnosis has cost me jobs, educational qualifications, countless life opportunities.
I can't see why lack of NHS funding is the reason as I have consulted several MH professionals over the years who have dismissed me, rolled their eyes and just not bothered to even listen. It would take far less time and NHS resources to just pay attention. It's taken up far more NHS time / money than it would to just do the job properly in the first place.
I know a lot of parents have similar issues with DCs who cannt get anywhere in the camhss system.

What we did for DH diagnosis:

Google which is your local health trusts adhd clinic- ie who you would see for a diagnosis under the nhs. Then google that person and 'private clinic'.

Lots of psychiatrists rent clinic rooms in Harley Street or similar by the hour and you can pay to see them there. Dh saw the psychiatrist he would have seen after a 2 year nhs wait. He was prescirbed and GP then put him on the meds via NHS.

We did this to get DS who was already diagnosed adhd but they were being incredibly slow to prescibe, he then went striaght onto meds via nhs too.

I dont condone that this is the system if you have the ££, but unfortunately it is.

I tried an Ed psych who told me firstly too busy for new patients, but also that diagnosis needed to come from a medic. In my area they seem few and far between so I've not got far.