Our Assessments
Did you see the BBC Panorama documentary on private ADHD assessments? We did.
Unfortunately private ADHD assessments can be of poor quality and lack governance, giving others a bad name.
At Chiltern ADHD Clinic, our approach is centred around providing the highest quality Adult ADHD assessments and treatment to our clients.
Everything that we have done is aiming for gold standard, based on our experience within the NHS. We have tried to replicate NHS services as much as possible, and utilise a Multi Disciplinary Team approach to all Adult ADHD assessments.
Can you get a cheaper / quicker Adult ADHD assessment? Absolutely yes.
Should you? Maybe not.
Here is a little explanation of the structure of our Adult ADHD assessments
(which do not necessarily result in a positive diagnosis).
1. You self-refer to Chiltern ADHD Clinic. An experienced Clinician will offer you a free 15 minute consultation to discuss the process and answer any questions you may have.
2. If you would like to go ahead, you will be offered a 60 minute screening appointment. This is to gather some brief information to determine whether it would be in your best interest to continue with a full diagnostic assessment. This will include a face to face or video appointment and some questionnaires. We do not believe that it is ethical to continue with a full diagnostic assessment if you don't appear to meet criteria after a screening appointment.
3. If you appear to meet criteria and we agree to proceed, we will proceed with a full diagnostic assessment which could take another 4-6 hours, or up to 10 hours with complexity.
4. The Multi Disciplinary Team will discuss the case and agree whether the diagnosis is positive (i.e. you get a diagnosis of ADHD) or negative (i.e. you do not get a diagnosis of ADHD).
5. You will be offered a final appointment to discuss the outcome, treatment recommendations, a little about ADHD and what happens next. You will be given a report to review and this can be sent to your GP or referrer, if applicable.
The full diagnostic assessment includes:
- Completion of a formal diagnostic assessment by your Clinician.
- Review of collateral information - NHS or other healthcare records, school reports, work reports etc.
- Interviewing 'informants'. These could be parents, spouses, friends and family who can comment on your symptoms or difficulties.
- Gathering a full clinical and psychosocial assessment of the person, including a developmental and psychiatric history.
- Psychometric questionnaires.
- And optionally - a QB Check.
You will receive a comprehensive report which includes:
- Your scored diagnostic assessment with rationale.
- Scored psychometric questionnaires.
- Information gathered by the Clinician.
- A workplace addendum which can be discussed separately from your full report.
- A list of resources.
- A recommended treatment plan.
- Relevant information from NICE (Healthcare) Guidelines.
- The full ADHD diagnostic criteria.
- Your QB Check report, if you opted for this.
If you are interested in medication:
- You can discuss this with the Consultant Psychiatrist involved in your diagnostic report. This would be charged separately.
Please note:
We can only offer ADHD assessments to clients who are aged 17+.
Proceeding with an ADHD assessment will not necessarily result in a positive diagnosis. We are assessing whether your symptoms or difficulties might fit with a specific diagnosis. Just because you are paying for an assessment, this does not guarantee you will receive a positive diagnosis.
If you are funding an ADHD assessment for someone else, we will not share the details with you unless the client expressly requests this from us, this includes parents of 17 year olds.
Despite popular belief, you do not need to be assessed by a Psychiatrist to receive a diagnosis of ADHD. We hear this a lot. Please see the relevant quote below from the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Guidelines for ADHD Diagnosis and Management (2018):
1.3.1. 'A diagnosis of ADHD should only be made by a specialist psychiatrist, paediatrician or other appropriately qualified healthcare professional with training and expertise in the diagnosis of ADHD'
The full assessment consist of around 5-10 hours but this can fluctuate depending on your circumstances. These sessions can be in one or two hour slots. You can also choose to attend sessions with your informant, if appropriate.
Informant sessions can be conducted over the phone, online, or face to face.
We are more than happy to hire interpreters / translators for informant sessions or collateral information, such as school reports, to support our clients from varied backgrounds.
Ideally ADHD assessments will include at least one face to face session. This will help to make it as close to gold standard as we can achieve as we will be able to observe you in the room. We are unable to offer telephone ADHD assessments.
Ideally, the optional QB Checks will also be conducted face to face.
Payments can be made in instalments, but must be paid before all appointments. If payment is not made, the assessment appointment cannot proceed and a report will not be created. In these circumstances, a subject access request will not be granted unless payment is made for the outstanding sessions. Payment for the optional QB Check is to be made in advance of the QB Check appointment.
Cost:
15 minute consultation - free - booking link here
Screening appointment - £90
Full diagnostic assessment - £1410
Total with screening appointment, full diagnostic assessment, outcome appointment and report =
£1500
Optional QB Check:
£100
QB Checks:
We are now able to offer QB Checks from our clinic.
A QB Check is an online ADHD task that supports early identification, assessment and treatment of ADHD. It objectively measures the core signs of ADHD: hyperactivity, impulsivity and inattention. You will complete a computer based task and your result will be compared with individuals of the same age and gender, who have ADHD, and those who do not.
This is NOT a diagnostic test and should not be interpreted as such, but it can inform professionals about the presence of possible ADHD symptoms and / or your ADHD treatment. You will be provided with a QB Check report.
We offer this as part of an ADHD assessment with Chiltern ADHD Clinic for £100 or as a stand alone for £150.
Medication:
To be discussed with the Psychiatrist directly following assessment.
If you would like to discuss medication with the Psychiatrist, please contact us and we can refer you on.