ADHD clinics offering shared care

It means the clinic will write to your GP requesting a shared care agreement once your dose is stable. It does not mean your GP will agree: that decision belongs to your GP practice, and they are not obliged to accept.

A shared care agreement is a formal arrangement between a private specialist and your NHS GP. The specialist handles diagnosis and initial treatment, then provides detailed guidance to your GP, who takes over routine prescribing. The specialist remains available for advice and annual reviews if needed.

There is no guarantee, and it is worth asking your GP practice before you book. Shared care is voluntary: the GMC’s guidance says it “requires the agreement of all parties, including the patient”, and BMA guidance for GP practices in England says shared care with private providers “is not recommended due to the general NHS constitution principle of keeping as clear a separation as possible between private and NHS care”, though it adds that shared care “may be appropriate where private providers are providing commissioned NHS services and where appropriate shared care arrangements are in place”. In the evidence summary (updated June 2025) in Part 2 of its report, the ADHD Taskforce that NHS England commissioned says data “suggest that support for GPs to prescribe ADHD medication is patchy”. Practices set their own policies, so the answer depends on yours.

Once your dose is stable and you are responding well, your clinic writes to your GP with the diagnosis, the medication and dose, and a proposed shared care protocol. How long titration takes varies by person and by clinic, so there is no fixed timetable, and the request going out is not the same as your GP accepting it.

If your GP agrees to prescribe, you pay the standard NHS prescription charge instead of a private prescription fee. In England that is £9.90 per item (2026/27), with prepayment certificates at £32.05 for three months and £114.50 for twelve. NHS prescriptions are free in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. If your GP does not take over, your clinic continues prescribing privately and you pay its fees.

Your GP can refer you back to the private clinic for specialist advice. Shared care protocols normally set out how the specialist supports the GP on dose adjustments or medication changes, and some clinics offer ad-hoc consultations for patients under shared care. The detail varies between clinics and between local NHS areas.

If shared care is agreed, your GP handles routine prescribing and monitoring. You may still need to pay for occasional specialist reviews (often annually) depending on the clinic's shared care protocol. If it is not agreed, you stay with the clinic's own follow-up schedule and fees.

22 of these clinics accept NHS Right to Choose (England only, with a GP referral), so the assessment itself is NHS-funded. Afterwards the clinic can still write to your GP requesting shared care, and the decision still rests with your GP practice. NHS England’s patient choice guidance says referrers should consider ongoing care that may follow a referral, such as “requests for GPs to enter Shared Care Protocols for certain prescribed medications and how these will be handled”.