Private ADHD diagnosis?

[Rae36]

Ds is 15. His school have suggested he needs an ADHD assessment. This is not exactly out of the blue, I should have done something about it years ago.

Anyway, I've made a gp appointment for next week but the camhs waiting lists are enormous and he quite rightly is not a priority. But equally we've left it so late, he's in s4 so exam year already and I feel guilty about that.

Does anyone know if there is a reputable private assessment route and how much it might cost? I'll ask the gp but I'd appreciate any recommendations.

What an idiot, it's so blindingly obvious now someone else has pointed it out to me.

We're in the central belt.

try Dr Nambi at The Helath Suite https://thehealthsuite.co.uk/treatments/child-and-adolescent-psychiatry/ v good doctor

www.adhddirect.co.uk/

Gordon is excellent. He diagnosed my son with ADHD (inattentive) when he was 19. It quite literally changed his life.

Sorry, should have said it's around £900'ish for a child ADHD assessment.

Hi. @Jennylongleg Sorry to jump on this post but if diagnosed by ADHD Direct, is it recognized by NHS / schools etc? DD also on CAMHS wait list but at 16, the sooner assessed the better so considering private assessment. Thanks.

A friend had her daughter diagnosed by a private assessor but the school wouldn't accept it, on the basis that as the friend had paid for the diagnosis she could ask for whatever she liked to be diagnosed. I thought that an appalling judgement on fellow professionals.

Hi @uhtredbebbanburg in the end, yes the private diagnosis was accepted.

However, the only way we managed that was to have a assessment by a CAHMS psychiatrist who agreed with the diagnosis and then agreed to prescribe the suggested medication. It was a much quicker process though than going through a CAHMS assessment from scratch though. Gordon forwarded on all his test results to the CAHMS psychiatrist ( he worked for CAHMS for a long time) and because they agreed we managed to get a "ratification" NHS diagnosis letter.

Sorry @uhtredbebbanburg should have said we had a very sympathetic GP who explained the situation in the referral letter to CAHMS. I then chased for an appointment a few weeks later and it came through a couple of weeks after that. Probably took about 6 weeks in total.

@Jennylongleg Thanks for the info. My DD already has an ASD diagnosis from CAMHS so I will ask them what we should do ie wait for CAMHS or go private.
@Spanielsarepainless I've heard similar and it is a tragedy when sometimes the only way to get one is privately because wait list for CAMHS are so long.

Can recommend the Purple House Clinic if you are in the west.

www.purplehouseclinic.co.uk/childrens-services/

It wont be recognised

Hi, I'm also wondering about private assessment for my son. Why wouldn't it be recognised? Is this across the board or just some local authorities.

Re private assessment the trick is to get a diagnosis from a private doctor who also works at your local CAMHS.

My child's school have recognised our private diagnosis (from ADHD direct) and he is getting additional help in his exams.
It's not like we went private because no one thinks he has adhd! We've been waiting for CAHMS for well over a year. Told it could be 3 years. He will have left school by then.

GP said she'd look at shared care when he has a settled dose of medication - not there yet so don't know if that will be honoured.

I wonder how they could dispute a private dx when camhs has hired Healios to do some of their assessments to cut lists.

In any case if I paid privately I'd stay on the nhs list too.

Excellent experience with ADHD Direct here too. Our GP recognises the diagnosis and prescribes - in what they call a shared care arrangement.

Used ADD direct for son who was similar age. Initial Gp reluctant to refer said school.should etc felt getting nowhere so went private with ADD who diagnosed ADHD.GP wouldn't accept diagnosis from them as basis to prescribe medso we still.had to go through CAHMS via a referral then from GP.We waited for just over 2 years for appointment,who following a one hour meeting with son agreed with ADHD assessment ADD direct had made and sent report to GP who then took on prescribing. So in the end we paid for private diagnosis,private prescription for meds and private review of meds,unti finally seen by CAHms. cost us a fortune. there is no consistency across Scotland to GP approaches.

it was completely worth it though. At such a critical age in school I would not wait for CAHMS.

Yes they are accepted, ignore the scaremongering from a PP.

I'm a GP and whilst we will code a diagnosis of ADHD from a private clinic, we won't prescribe the drugs. ADHD drugs are prescribed on the basis of a scared care agreement between primary and secondary care. Private providers don't have that "contract". You can still get the meds from the private clinic, but you have to pay for them.

Another thing OP - have the school done a formal report and given it to you? Because without that, the GP can't refer to CAMHS.

CAMHS is not fit for purpose. Not their fault, they must be chronically underfunded to have a 3 year waiting list for a child in need of support.

Our local authority does not accept private ADHD assesments.

What do you mean by local authority not accepting - the GP? The school? You need input from the school before you get the diagnosis in the first place. They are supposed to react to the child's needs rather than the diagnosis

The school, but ultimately the education department for the local authority.

No, they're not in all areas of Scotland.

If your child is presenting with symptoms of adhd but hasn't been seen by CAMHS yet, the school should follow the pathway for ADHD - it would be completely wrong for them to ignore this. We were told this at our first CAMHS appointment.