Your ADHD assessment and medication, start to finish

This article describes exactly what happens at each step of an ADHD assessment with us, so you know what to expect.

Step 1: You book and complete the questionnaire

When you book, we send you a link to our pre-assessment questionnaire. It has about 130 questions, mostly tick-boxes, and takes most people thirty to forty minutes. It follows the structure of the DIVA-5 diagnostic interview, asking about current symptoms and the same symptoms as they appeared in your childhood. It also screens for conditions that can mimic or overlap with ADHD, including anxiety, low mood and autism traits.

You also upload any supporting documents you have: old school reports, previous assessments, letters from other clinicians. None of this is required, but it all adds to the picture.

Step 2: We read your answers before the appointment

Before your consultation, we read through your questionnaire responses and any documents you have uploaded and, with your consent, your NHS records. That way the consultation is spent on you, not on gathering information that could have been collected beforehand.

We are mentored by an experienced consultant psychiatrist who specialises in adult ADHD and autism. Where your answers suggest possible autism or a complex mental health picture, we talk it through with him, and refer you to him when you need specialist care.

Step 3: The consultation itself

Your assessment takes sixty minutes, whether you see us in person at Westfield or by video.

Whatever the format, the consultation has the same four elements. A discussion of the questionnaire answers, including anything that looks inconsistent and anything that looks clinically important. A conversation about your history and what has changed to bring you to us now. A discussion of what we think is going on and whether ADHD is a reasonable conclusion. If it is, a conversation about medication options, what to expect, and which medication we recommend for your starting point.

You leave the consultation with three things agreed: whether you meet criteria for ADHD, what happens next, and if medication is indicated, which one and at what starting dose.

The fee is the same whatever the outcome. If it isn't ADHD, we tell you and explain what may be going on instead.

Step 4: If medication is right for you

If you are prescribed, we issue your private prescription at the end of the consultation, so treatment can start without a second appointment.

From here, the two formats diverge in how the medication reaches you.

In-person at Westfield

If medication is right for you, we can dispense your first month directly from the clinic at the end of your consultation, with the dispensing label attached and written information about how to take it.

This is possible because UK medicines regulations permit a registered doctor to dispense to their own patients. There is no onward referral to a pharmacy chain.

Online

If you see us by video, we issue the private prescription at the end of the consultation and dispense your medication at Westfield, for collection or delivery.

There is no third-party pharmacy and no additional pharmacy fee.

Step 5: Your written report arrives

Within five working days of your consultation, you receive a written diagnostic report by email. This contains the DIVA-5 findings criterion-by-criterion, a clinical summary, your starting medication and dose, and the plan for the next six to twelve weeks.

The report is designed to meet shared-care-request standards. If your NHS GP is willing to take over your prescribing under a shared care agreement, this report is the document they will need.

Step 6: Your first titration review

Two to four weeks after starting medication, we see you again for a titration review. This is a routine follow-up at £79; your medication is billed separately. The review covers how you are tolerating the medication, what difference it is making to your attention and day-to-day function, whether the dose needs adjusting, and any side effects.

Most patients need two or three titration reviews over the first twelve weeks before settling on a stable dose.

How it fits together

The questionnaire, the consultation, your written report and your first review happen in that order, and none of them is rushed. If it is ADHD and treatment is clinically right, it can start without a second appointment, and your report follows within five working days.

Why we do it this way

Starting treatment is only right when the assessment has been done properly and the decision to prescribe is clinically sound. That rests on a structured pre-assessment questionnaire, a 60 minute consultation with time to think, a review of your NHS records with your consent, and a specialist we can talk complex cases through with.

Ready to start?

If this article has made you think it is time to find out, the next step is an ADHD assessment with us.

Begin your assessment at this link. Assessment takes 60 minutes, in person or by video.