ADHD assessment and treatment

So your diagnosis rests on a careful look at the whole of you, not one conversation:

• A detailed questionnaire for you, about 30 to 40 minutes, built on the DIVA-5 diagnostic interview and NICE guidance (NG87): your adult and childhood experiences, mood, sleep and safety.

• A shorter questionnaire, about 10 minutes, for someone who knows you well now.

• Another, about 10 minutes, for someone who knew you well as a child or teenager.

• 60 minutes with us, in person or by video: time to tell us your whole story and what lies behind your answers, and to decide together what happens next. Bring anything that helps, such as school reports.

• With your consent, a review of your NHS records.

• Screening for conditions that overlap with ADHD or can look like it, such as anxiety, low mood and autism.

• A written report with your diagnosis, the reasoning behind it and your plan.

The questionnaires are all online, so there is nothing to print or post. The fee is the same whatever the outcome. If it isn't ADHD, we tell you and explain what may be going on instead.

However you get your treatment, the medication costs the same. The only choice is how you pay for your care.

• Your assessment. A full diagnostic assessment with a doctor, in person or by video, with your diagnosis and a written report. Already diagnosed somewhere else? We take over your care instead.

• Your monthly review. Fifteen minutes before each prescription: how you are getting on, any change of dose, and your next supply. The medication is billed separately, at the same price. Nothing renews on its own and there is nothing to cancel.

If you are on ADHD medication from another clinic, an NHS service, or an online provider, and you want to move your care to us, you are very welcome. Bring whatever records you have and we will take it from there. We can take over your prescribing where your original assessment meets the standards for shared-care.

We can usually help adults who recognise long-standing difficulties with attention, focus, organisation, restlessness, or impulsivity that have been present since childhood and affect everyday life.

ADHD medication is not right for everyone. Where the assessment identifies something we cannot safely manage in a shared-care framework, such as complex psychiatric problems or significant unstable cardiovascular disease, we will tell you honestly and, where it would help, refer you to the consultant psychiatrist who mentors us. If your assessment points to autism rather than, or alongside, ADHD, we refer you to him for that too, as autism is not something managed in primary care.

A blood test is not always needed, but we recommend a baseline check for some patients, including thyroid and ferritin, and an ECG where there are personal or family heart risk factors. This lets us start stimulant medication safely.

You choose how: a finger-prick kit at home, a phlebotomy appointment near you or a home visit, or here at our Westfield clinic.

Blood tests are priced separately, the same as the medication. If you have recent results from your NHS GP or another provider, we can use those.

Stimulant medication usually starts working within an hour, and most side effects are manageable. The common ones are reduced appetite, a faster heart rate, trouble sleeping if taken late, and a dip as the dose wears off, which is why we start low and build up slowly.

Used at ADHD doses and properly monitored, the risk of dependence is low, and treating ADHD lowers rather than raises the risk of substance misuse. Non-stimulant options such as atomoxetine and guanfacine build up over a few weeks and suit people who cannot take stimulants.

We check your blood pressure, heart rate and weight at every review, and ask about mood, sleep and appetite at every contact, so anything that needs attention is caught early. You can message us between reviews if something troubles you.

We are GPs who assess and treat adult ADHD ourselves. We have completed CPD-accredited training in adult ADHD and we keep learning, because that is what NICE and the Royal College of GPs expect of any doctor doing this work.

We are also mentored by an experienced consultant psychiatrist who specialises in adult ADHD and autism. We talk cases through with him, learn from him, and refer to him when someone needs specialist care, such as possible autism or a complex mental health picture. So you see a doctor who knows you, with a specialist behind us when it matters.