Private diagnosis and transfer for NHS

[Strawbsss]

My child has recently been diagnosed with ADHD following a private assessment.

We opted for this route due to the waiting list to be assessed in our area standing at around 2-3 years.

I contacted Alder Hey yesterday to inform them my child had received the diagnosis and asked if she could now be considered for medication from the NHS once I had sent over the documentation etc.

Alder Hey said it would 'depend whether the hospital agree with the diagnosis at a panel'.

I find this really bizarre, are they saying the hospital could discredit another doctor's diagnosis because they don't work for Alder Hey?

We chose a company who carry out assessments for the NHS (Right to Choose) and follow the NICE guidelines.

What is it they'll be looking for? I was assuming it would be to see if the company had complied with the above guidelines but now I'm curious.

If anyone has any insight into this, I'd be grateful to hear your experiences.

Thanks x

A large part is to check the validity of the assessment. Because the assessment followed NICE guidelines and the staff undertake NHS work, the validity is less likely to be questioned. But also whether the service agrees with the diagnosis is sometimes considered.

I really appreciate your reply! Thank you so much x

If you haven’t already, it is worth speaking to your GP too. Once stable, some GPs will take on shared care where the patient has been diagnosed privately. But not all will.

The diagnosis letter sent to our GP states 'we will write to you again to arrange suitable shared care' so hopefully you are right! Thank you x

We're paying privately for ds's adhd assessment. I've contacted the GP to ask whether, if diagnosed, they'll take on shared care. I've been told they will need to run his paperwork past the local mental health team before agreeing to it. Many GPs will agree to it, once the child is stabilised on medication via the private provider. But most suggest you ask them first before going for a private assessment, just to make sure. I've also heard that some GPs are being encouraged not to take on shared care agreements due to the additional pressure it puts on prescriptions. Parents can't seem to win. Wait 2-3 years for a diagnosis on the NHS, or pay privately only to be told it's not guaranteed that GPs will support shared care.