ADHD medication help!

[Whyisthissocomplicated2]

Son is 9 and we decided to go private this year to get him assessed as the wait times here are massive. We found a great doctor who was highly recommended, and he was diagnosed with adhd and autism.
Fast forward some months and we are now considering medication as he is really struggling. I’m now very confused! Contacted the doctor who was happy to see him again and discuss but said he could only prescribe the initial prescription, a follow up 6-8 weeks after and from then on our gp should take over through shared care, but this isn’t guaranteed! I can’t get hold of the gp surgery at the moment to ask but I’ve heard a lot are refusing to do shared care. So…basically I can get him a months worth of medication to try (at a cost of over £1000 for the 2 appointments plus med costs) and then..what?? Why can’t he continue to prescribe and we pay? What am I missing here? The doctor says it’s a lot easier to start medications through the nhs, but how is that possible when we have gone private? I’m not understand why he is unable to do repeat prescriptions? Can anyone advise please 🙏

Unfortunately, not all private providers will prescribe ongoing. They don’t have to. And unfortunately, an increasing number of GPs won’t provide shared care for those whose treatment has been initiated privately. You can request DS is referred to an NHS service, but there will be a wait.

God I wish I had understood that before we started the process privately and paid £££. How do I request he is transferred to the nhs? Will they then want to reassess? Does anyone know of anywhere privately that will take on medication with an existing diagnosis please?

You will need to ask the GP for a referral. Whether the new provider will reassess will a) depend on what provider you are referred to, and b) the assessment/provider you have used privately. Sometimes a reassessment is needed. Sometimes the new service accepts the private assessment.

Have you asked the private doctor if they know anyone who would prescribe privately following their diagnosis?

No real help .... just our story...but our sons psychiatrist said she probably needs to see him 3 times to discuss effects of meds, confirm dosage and check his weight before our GP would accept shared care and she was happy to transfer... but we would see her going forward anyway. Inital consult 850, follow ups 245, out of followup prescription 25 and then cost of filling.

This is after the peadatrician diagnosed him asd and adhd (many thousands) and the peadatrician was very clear she doesn't prescribe from the start so no surprise for us.

So yeah not uncommon for some Dr's to not prescribe. I would assume all child psychiatrists would and they are the best ones clued up to brain meds. The GP probably won't be happy prescribing after one cycle as dose or type might need adjusted.

Unfortunately the private route although quicker is also confusing and hard to navigate as we all start from a position of NO knowledge.

Just to counterbalance, we had no problems at all transferring our private diagnosis for ADHD and prescription to a shared care agreement both at our London GP about 2 yrs ago and now to our GP in Surrey where we have just moved to. If they agree to the transfer though the GP will want to be sure he's stabilised on the dose after titration privately. We are still obliged to conduct 6 monthly private reviews with our psychiatrist to secure the shared care agreement but this is far less costly. Hope you get the desired outcome.