ADHD Private Assessment

[tuzla]

My son (11) is on a two year waiting list for ADHD assessment. He'll be 12/13 by the time it comes around so we are considering having a private assessment. Does anyone have any experience to share? Is it exactly the same as an NHS assessment? How much does it cost? And once you opt for private is that it then on terms of funding medication etc? Or can you tap back in to NHS/CAHMS? Thanks in advance for any advice

I used psychiatry-uk for DDs ADHD assessment, initial cost for the assessment (online) then cost of private prescription and medication (can shop around, I found Tesco to be cheapest). Once on optimal dose psychiatrist wrote to the GP to take over shared care on the NHS so prescriptions then became free.

That's interesting @PaddingtonPaddington I didn't know psychiatry UK diagnosed children. Can I ask if your dd's school knows and if they have accepted the validity of a private diagnosis?

I was diagnosed as an adult but it sounds similar to the other posters experience. It was around £350 for the assessment and £100 for one follow on appointment.

I paid for my initial prescription privately (around £40) but all others have been through my GP.

I’ve changed my dose around 3 times but this has been done free of charge via email. The consultant sends a letter to my GP confirming the change, then my GP issues the prescription.

Have a look at right to choose as you may be able to obtain NHS funding for a private diagnosis.

Thanks so much for your replies. We're able to pay for an initial consultation. But paying for medication long term would be a little harder I think.. All the assessments seem to be online at the moment too. What are people's experiences of that? Thanks again for sharing

We have just had our 14 year old dd assessed for ADHD back in October, and she had her Autism assessment last week. This was done through Clinical Partners who use CAHMS professionals so the diagnosis for both can be accepted by the school and Dr. The ADHD cost £895, the Autism was £1950. Results were within 2 weeks for the ADHD (wait time was 2 weeks) and within a week for the Autism (wait time was 4 months, thr lady who assessed her for ADHD recommemded the Autism assessment). We haven't started her on the medication yet as they suggested waiting for the Autism results and a Speech and Language assessment to be carried out first, but we have been told we will be able to switch to NHS prescriptions for this

Both assessments were via Zoom, 90 minutes for the ADHD plus all the questionnaires. The Autism one was 90 minutes for our dd, then a 3 hour one for myself and her dad, plus all the questionnaires