Private diagnosis recognised???

[Thenoseymother]

Hi all,

my 7yo DD has just been referred to paediatric team for ADHD/ASD diagnosis. We’ve been told the wait is 2+ years. We suggested to the GP that we may go private instead to speed up the process and she was quite blunt and said do not go down that route because the diagnosis will not be accepted by school or NHS.

does anyone have any experience with a private diagnosis for their child and everything go okay after?

Thank you!

Schools and LAs are not allowed to have a blanket policy of refusing to accept independent assessments. The validity of any assessment and potential diagnoses is less likely to be questioned if the assessment follows the NOCE guidelines &/or it is someone who also undertakes NHS work.

With ADHD medications sometimes NHS GPs are reluctant to take on shared care.

That's rubbish. Private diagnosis by a qualified paediatrician that follows the correct guidelines can be recognised. The waiting list is far too long and many many parents are looking for private diagnosis atm. Our private diagnosis was rubber stamped by the paediatrician and school accepted is straight away regardless of that. However ADHD diagnosis is slightly different - a paediatrician won't necessarily accept a private paediatric diagnosis of ADHD. But the CAMHS waiting list to assess for ADHD can be up to six years long which is crazy and there are clinical psychologists who will do a private ADHD assessment and diagnosis.

We’re in the same situation and need a diagnosis to get support from my child’s school. Where do you go for a private diagnosis and how much does it cost?

Support in schools is based on needs rather than diagnosis, so you don’t need a diagnosis for the school to be providing support. They must make their best endeavours to meet s pupil’s SEN.

We had a private diagnosis that has been accepted by school and our GP. We paid more (circa £1800) but worked with a paediatric consultant with over 30 years experience who also still works for the NHS. I think this makes a difference and would encourage careful research. The GP has also recently accepted shared care, as long as we pay for the necessary consultant reviews.