ADHD diagnosis and treatment including shared care processes - Policy for Patients

ADHD Treatment: What You Need to Know

Introduction

If you have ADHD or suspect you might, this summary outlines how our Practice will work with you and other healthcare specialists to provide the best care possible. We are committed to offering the best possible care for our patients with ADHD. If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Initial Steps

1.            Consultation: To begin, we will ask you to contact us via the e-consult platform from where we will be able to discuss symptoms, signpost to different resources via a telephone call or face to face conversation. If you struggle to access this platform please contact the surgery by calling or popping in to speak to our Care Navigation team who will be happy to help.

2. Referral: If needed, you will be referred to a specialist for further evaluation and treatment. Currently the wait time for ADHD referrals on the NHS is very long (up to 5 years).  You have the option of choosing a private provider,

which you will have to pay for, but please note that we cannot vouch for the quality of care provided by private specialists and we will not able to enter into “Shared Care Agreements” with them (see below), a shared care agreement is something that has to be in place for you to receive ADHD medication on the NHS.

Shared Care Agreement

Note: We only enter into shared care agreements with NHS specialists (i.e. not private specialists) or those providers that have been commissioned on behalf of the NHS.

1.  Start of Medication: If medication is prescribed, the specialist will handle the initiation phase until your treatment is stable, which usually involves a three-month review.

2. Ongoing Care: After stabilisation, the responsibility for prescribing your medication might shift to your GP under what’s known as a “shared care agreement.” The GP may decide to accept this shared care agreement or may request that the specialist continue to prescribe the medication.

3. Annual Reviews: The specialist will need to conduct an annual review of your treatment, and you may need to attend a GP appointment for physical checks like blood pressure, pulse rate, and weight.

Important Notes

• The Practice will need to make sure that all protocols have been followed. Your GP will only prescribe medication if these conditions are met.

• Missed Appointments: If you fail to attend your scheduled check-ups, your prescription may be stopped for your safety, this is because ADHD medication are controlled drugs and things such as your weight and blood pressure affect the safety of prescribing them

Private Providers and some NHS “Right to Choose” providers

We will not carry out tests that private providers want you to have, any tests that private providers need to be done must be completed by them. The Right to Choose providers are also commissioned to do things like physical checks and blood tests and therefore this is also something that they should provide. If they are an online/remote provider you will need to discuss this fully with them on how to proceed.

Private Providers

If you have started treatment with a private provider, you will either need to:

•approach the Practice to request a referral to an NHS specialist, or

•continue to receive your treatment directly from your private provider indefinitely

Please note that there may be a significant delay in having your diagnosis reviewed by the NHS team and them agreeing to participate in a shared care agreement. During this time, you will need to continue to receive your treatment directly from your private provider. The Practice is not able or obliged in any way to provide a “bridging” prescription.

Moving Your ADHD Care to us

Transferring from Another UK General Practice Surgery

•Your medical records should transfer electronically to us within days, but this isn’t always the case please ensure you have a good supply of your medication from your old / last GP Practice before leaving them or the area

•  Upon registering with us, please send us a copy of your shared care agreement or ask  your last GP Practice to send us a copy of your shared care agreement – this can be emailed to us or in paper form

If you are under the care of an in-person NHS mental health team, provided the standards are met during the initial checks, we will proceed with establishing a Shared Care Agreement, ensuring your treatment continues.

• If you are under the care of a private specialist, we will not be able to enter into a shared care agreement. You can ask us to refer you to an in-person NHS mental health team, but while waiting to see them, you will need to obtain your treatment from your private specialist directly

Intervening Prescriptions

During the transition phase, it might be necessary for you to obtain your prescriptions from your consultant until the Shared Care Agreement is in place.