Psych-neuro testing in the UK?

[ChrisUSA]

Hi everyone-

My family and I have been living in America since 2010, but are planning to move back next summer.

My 7 year old has been displaying some challenging behaviours and we have been recommended to have her take a psych-neuro assessment to see if she may have a variety of potential conditions (e.g. ADHD, OCD etc).

The problem is that those tests have long waiting lists and can be very expensive in America and so we are wondering whether we should just wait until we are in the UK for her to be tested.

So my question is - are these sort of tests available on the NHS and /or private in the UK? If so, could you share some of the basic info on them such as wait list, cost, what the testing entails etc?

any advice gratefully received!

thank you!

Assessments are available on the NHS. However, there are very long waiting lists (the exact time varies area to area) and some people’s referrals are rejected.

Assessments are available privately. For testing for multiple conditions, you are looking at several thousands of pounds. You would also need to consider prescription costs. GPs don’t have to take on prescribing the medication, so you may need to continue to pay for private prescriptions if medication is needed. The cost of private prescriptions varies depending on what you need/where fills your prescription.

What specific tests are used will depend on the provider you use and the specific conditions you want assessing. For example, many use QB test, along with the Conners Rating Scale for ADHD; for autism, the ADOS is often used; for OCD, ChOCI-R-P is sometimes used.