Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Referrals and Medication
NHS ADHD Referrals – Children
If your GP feels it is appropriate, they may refer your child through the NHS for an ADHD assessment, which will be completed by the mental health team at Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (HPFT).
Before a referral can be made for a child, HPFT require the following paperwork (forms can be downloaded below).
1) Referral form completed by parent/carer
2) SNAP-IV rating scale form completed by parent/carer
3) Referral form completed by school
4) SNAP-IV rating scale form completed by school
Once the above paperwork has been completed and returned to us, please book a routine telephone call with a GP to discuss sending the referral.
Please download the forms below or you can collect copies from our reception
NHS ADHD Referrals – Adults
For adult ADHD referrals please book a routine telephone call with a GP to discuss. As of February 2023 HPFT no longer require extra paperwork for adult referrals, however they do require evidence that ADHD symptoms started in childhood and cannot be explained by any other conditions. HPFT will also not accept referrals for patients who misuse alcohol or illicit drugs without prior engagement with Change Grow Live (CGL).
Please be aware HPFT has a long waiting list for ADHD assessments.
If the mental health team make a diagnosis of ADHD, they might offer you or your child medication. Initially this medication will need to be obtained directly from the mental health team. After taking the medication for some time, the mental health team may feel you are stable enough to obtain your medication from your GP surgery. In order for us to prescribe this type of medication, the mental health team will need to send us a shared care agreement, which states any monitoring you will need to allow us to prescribe the medication safely.
Private ADHD Referrals
If you choose to obtain an ADHD assessment privately, we will be unable to take over prescribing of your ADHD medication.
We are only able to take over prescribing ADHD medication which has been started by an NHS service once we have an NHS shared care agreement.
This is due to rules set by the Hertfordshire and West Essex Integrated Care Board (ICB), which state for us to take over prescribing of ADHD medication:
- A patient must be diagnosed with ADHD by an NHS specialist, who confirms that the prescribing of ADHD medicine is in line with NHS criteria.
- Shared care agreements may only be formed between NHS organisations. There is no local policy which allows shared care agreements to be formed between private and NHS organisations.
- Shared care documents from private providers, which have not gone through the ICB’s governance processes cannot be accepted by GPs.
Conversion of privately prescribed ADHD medication to the NHS
If a patient who has been diagnosed by a private service wishes to receive their ADHD treatment on the NHS from their GP, they will need to be referred to an NHS mental health specialist for an assessment (see above section on NHS ADHD Referrals). If the NHS mental health specialist feels the patient meets NHS criteria to start ADHD medication, a shared care agreement would then need to be formed between the NHS specialist and GP. In the interim, the prescribing and clinical responsibility of the medicine(s) should remain with the private specialist.
We are only able to consider taking over prescribing of ADHD medication started by a private service if both of the following are met:
- A patient has been referred via the NHS “Right to Choose” scheme
- The private organisation has an NHS contract to provide mental health services. This means that the private provider must have an NHS contract to provide ADHD services for the type of patient in question e.g. child or adult. It is not sufficient for the private clinician themselves to have an NHS contract.
Further information
For further information on guidance set by our Integrated Care Board, please contact the Pharmacy and Medicines Optimisation Team (PMOT) for South and West Hertfordshire, which is part of Hertfordshire and West Essex Integrated Care Board
