Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, it is recommended that GP is aware of your treatment at all times. This is also important for smooth onward care.

ADHDclinic  does not provide emergency service. Appointments are by prior arrangement. Our emails and phone numbers are not monitored. 

If you are in a mental health crisis and require urgent support, please contact the first response service on 111, mental health option 2. This service is only for people living in the Cambridgeshire borders only. 

If the crisis requires more immediate attention, please phone 999 or attend your local emergency department, where there is always someone with mental health experience available.

Samaritans :  if you feel you urgently need to speak to someone, the Samaritans are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week on telephone 116123 (free call).

During working hours, you can also request help from your GP for appropriate help.

You will be asked to sign consent for us to share information with your GP and school, if appropriate. You will be asked to complete a number of questionnaire and also get the questionnaires completed by school and returned to us before the appointment.

We will also arrange a QB check which is an online ADHD test that supports the assessment and treatment of ADHD. 

Please click the link for more information on QBcheck:

https://cdn.qbtech.com/qbcheck/TP0259_QbCheck_Remote_Testing_EN.pdf

The assessment involves multiple steps including 

(1) Reviewing the developmental history forms, scoring the structured ADHD questionnaires (SNAP IV ADHD questionnaire, SDQ, descriptive ADHD questionnaire, early and current school reports, any previous assessments etc. This is a very important part of the assessment in order to understand the narrative of the current presentation.

(2) Face to face meeting with the child and parents/carers with a view to do a detailed holistic assessment including clinical observations, feedback on QB check results, share the formulation/diagnosis and discuss management options. 

(3) If diagnosed with ADHD then information provided on improving your understanding of ADHD symptoms, general strategies to manage ADHD including environmental modifications to reduce the impact of ADHD symptoms and share relevant sources of information.

A detailed report will be sent to you and child's GP with the formulation/ diagnosis and management plan. This is usually completed within 3 weeks but there could be exceptions for e.g. further information awaited from school, clinician's leave etc.

Although our assessments are specifically for ADHD, there are a number of conditions that may present in a similar way as ADHD for e.g. anxiety, learning issues, poor sleep, physical health conditions etc. Your consultant will complete a holistic assessment that will include general psychiatric assessment and note any co-morbid conditions which may be contributing to your current difficulties. Your consultant will also discuss and jointly devise a management plan to address these conditions.

No. If your treatment plan recommends a trial of medication then we will send you a health screening questionnaire specifically looking if the child has any history of heart problems or if there is a family history of heart problems in immediate family members (parents and full siblings).
We will also outline the baseline health checks (weight, height, pulse and BP) that are required. These can be booked with your GP practice and returned to us for review before the medication titration appointment is offered.
If any cardiac/BP issues are identified at baseline, we may request GP to seek cardiology opinion before offering medication titration appointment.

NICE and GMC guidelines recommend a review by a specialist after each dose titration for safe prescribing practice. If you are initiated on a medication trial, then you will usually require on average between 3-6 follow-up appointments to reach the correct dose.  This is done through a combination of phone reviews and clinic/virtual appointments.

During the follow-up appointment, we will monitor your response to treatment, any adverse side effects, review the physical observations -BP, pulse, weight, height and plot them on growth charts. We will communicate with your GP informing them of your progress as per GMC guidelines on safe prescribing.

Once you are established on a stable medication regime, then we can request to set up a shared care agreement with your GP, if they are willing to accept this. Please note we cannot guarantee a Share Care arrangement with your GP. We would suggest you discuss this with your GP in advance.

In keeping with current guidance, prescriptions can only be issued when there is a further follow up arranged with the specialist to review impact of medication.

We do not have any agreements in place with NHS services. So, please check with your GP, school or local service how they manage the interface with private healthcare and assessments.

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As we offer appointments to people from different regions all of which have their own local processes, onward referrals to your local NHS service will need to come from your GP. If you intend to use the assessment for such a purpose please discuss this with them in advance to gain their views and check if this is possible.

Once you are settled on a medication and dose, we can then request your GP to take over prescribing under a Share Care Agreement. Under the terms of the Share Care Agreement, we will still be responsible for monitoring your ongoing treatment and you will be required to have 6 monthly or more regular (depending on clinical need) follow-up review appointments with the specialist as part of shared care agreement.

You can also request to transfer your care at any point in full to NHS services. You are advised to discuss this directly with your GP.

Please note we cannot guarantee a Share Care arrangement with your GP. We would suggest you discuss this with your GP in advance

Your consultant will note any reasonable adjustments they feel necessary for school in your assessment letter.

Adjustments for children with ADHD could include:

1. Extra time or rest breaks during exams to lessen stress and fatigue

2. Movement breaks within lessons to allow children to release excess energy and maintain focus

3. Clear written instructions for tasks to help with comprehension and organisation

4. A seating plan designed to minimise distractions and improve learning

Unfortunately our consultant work in other roles hence will not be able to respond to queries. For urgent queries, please contact your local health provider/GP/our of hours health services. For non urgent queries, you may request to book a follow-up review appointment as a priority.

Payment is by electronic bank transfer only and full payment is taken at the point of booking. 

We are unable to offer payment plan or discount 

To secure an appointment for an ADHD assessment or follow-up appointment, full payment is required.

Clients can cancel or reschedule their appointments, provided that they notify us at least 72 hours in advance. If you are unable to make your appointment, please let us know as soon as possible by email at  drdivikseth@yahoo.com. For cancellation, you may still be charged for the pre-assessment work that has been done including QB test (£395) and/or admin process to set up the records, sending questionnaires (£75), if applicable.

If less than 72 hours notice is given, then the following terms and condition will apply: Appointments cancelled or rescheduled with less than 72 hours notice will be charged at 100% of the full fee.