ADHD prescription privately?

[mamnotmum]

Hello

I wonder if anyone can help. My adult daughter has been given an ADHD diagnosis and report from the NHS. She now needs to wait for a psychiatrist to sign off on a prescription ..... which will take up to 18 months!!!!

Can we pay privately for a psychiatrist to do this? And then get the medication she needs through the NHS?

Can anyone else suggest a better way to gain the prescription quicker?

Thanks

You can do this privately and quickly. I only know because children in my class ended up on a waiting list so long (2 years - a long time in a 10 year old’s life) that their parents became desperate. I’m not sure if they’ll eventually get to the top of the NHS waiting list and stop buying them privately. I get the impression that the process isn’t too difficult but the cost is significant.

Just realised. I misread. You need to pay for private prescriptions I’m afraid.

It might be worth speaking to your GP surgery and ask if they allow shared care agreements where you pay privately for the titration appointments and ongoing reviews but the prescriptions are managed through your GP (therefore NHS funded). Some GPs allow this - mine didn't unfortunately so we have to pay.

You may be able to find a private psychiatrist who is prepared to prescribe from an NHS diagnosis. Not all will, they may insist on re-assessment.

If you find someone prepared to prescribe, it can take several months to get the medication right. It's then reliant on your GP agreeing to enter into a shared care agreement, where they prescribe what the private psychiatrist tells them too.

Be aware that many Gaps are now refusing to do this, on the instructions of their local funding board.

If your GP will do it, your daughter will still need to have six-monthly or annual reviews with the private psychiatrist, which she will have to pay for.

Correction:

Be aware that many GPs are now refusing to do this, on the instructions of their local funding board.