Switching from private back to nhs?

[YourHandInMyHand]

Hi. My DS(complex special needs, a few different conditions diagnosed) currently sees a private paediatrician after a long waiting list and then disappointing service from our local camhs. The private paed is fab but is out of county so costs me a fair bit in terms of her fee, travel, overnight stay, etc every 6 months. I've never been a high earner but I am now earning zero and paying this out of DS's DLA / my carer's.

If we decided to go back to local nhs services, how would this be done and what would happen? Would we have to wait to be referred back to the local team (which would be camhs)? DS is on meds for adhd which require a 6 monthly assessment. Would we need to continue with the private paed until we got to the front of the local nhs waiting list?

He is also currently meant to see the nhs community paediatric team 6 monthly regarding other meds he takes for sleep and bowels. We last had a check up from them 2 years ago.

I am trying to continue the private route but I honestly don't know if I feasibly can long term so I need to know how it would work and what I would need to do or bear in mind.

Officially the rules is that you start from a referral from your gp and be added on the waiting list because people who've gone private shouldn't get preferable treatment.

In reality it very much depends on the people involved in the process. As a whole though NHS clinicians are not keen to take on assessment from private colleagues (even if many work in the NHS themselves) and prefer to do their own assessments hence starting from scratch.

Swingofthings oh god starting his adhd assessment from scratch would take years here, our area has shocking waiting lists and not great services in general! He does well with the help of his adhd meds in terms of it helps him focus a little more at school, and in general. So I guess I would need to keep seeing the private paed so she could prescribe his meds, until local service had diagnosed him and then they could prescribe him??

All his other diagnosis's have been done by local nhs (bowels, asd, sensory processing, low muscle tone, foot gait requiring insoles, anxiety, etc). Just the adhd that's never been diagnosed by local nhs.

He's 14 soon, so I also need to start thinking ahead to when he ages out of the paed's remmitt. Eeek.