Private ADHD and autism assessment in Ayr & Ayrshire

Psychiatric ADHD and autism assessment for Ayrshire adults

Caledonian Psychiatry offers private adult ADHD and autism assessment to people in Ayr and right across NHS Ayrshire & Arran — from Kilmarnock, Irvine and the North Ayrshire coast at Troon, Prestwick and Largs, down through Maybole and Girvan, and across the water to the Isle of Arran. He is the doctor behind every appointment on this stretch of coast, from the first consultation through to the written report at the end — MRCPsych-qualified, GMC-registered, and with a caseload built substantially around adult neurodevelopmental assessment. The practice is regulated by Healthcare Improvement Scotland (reg. 03427).

Every assessment takes place fully by secure video consultation, so there is no drive up the A77 to a city clinic, no parking to find, and no waiting room. Ayrshire patients attend from home, from work, or from wherever suits them best. Nothing about seeing a patient on a screen changes what an assessment covers or how rigorously it is carried out — it is the same two appointments, the same evidence-gathering, and the same report a patient would receive walking into a consulting room. Whether you are a student in Ayr or Kilmarnock, a commuter who travels into Glasgow each day, or settled in one of Ayrshire’s coastal or rural communities, the pathway is the same.

The NHS picture in Ayrshire

NHS Ayrshire & Arran serves the three Ayrshire council areas — North, East and South Ayrshire — a geographically varied patch taking in busy towns such as Kilmarnock and Irvine, a long stretch of coast, deeply rural inland communities and an island. Demand for adult ADHD and autism assessment here sits alongside the same pressure every Scottish health board is managing, so an adult referred through the NHS route should expect a long wait rather than a quick one. For people in rural South Ayrshire or on Arran, distance and travel add a further practical hurdle to an already lengthy pathway.

To put a number on that: across Scotland as a whole, around 23,300 adults were waiting for an ADHD or autism assessment as of March 2025, with adults typically waiting approximately 76 weeks from referral to assessment (Scottish Parliament, 2025). These are Scotland-wide figures — no board-specific breakdown for Ayrshire & Arran is published — but they give a realistic sense of scale for anyone weighing up the NHS route from Ayr, Kilmarnock or elsewhere in the county. The NHS ADHD and autism waiting times across Scotland page goes into the detail, including why Right to Choose, an England-only mechanism, doesn’t offer an alternative route here.

Caledonian Psychiatry doesn’t run a waiting list on that scale: enquiries from Ayrshire are usually seen within a matter of weeks, and a GP referral isn’t a precondition for booking.

What the assessment involves

Every ADHD assessment follows the NICE NG87 framework and is built around two video appointments of 60 minutes each. Across those two sessions, Dr Crocker builds up a detailed picture of a patient’s developmental history and current presentation, applies recognised diagnostic rating scales, and — where a partner, parent or old school report can add useful perspective — draws on that collateral information too. What comes out the other end is a full written report explaining the diagnosis, or the absence of one, and setting out what he recommends next. For full details of what each appointment covers, see our full ADHD assessment page, and our approach for a step-by-step picture of how Dr Crocker works with each patient.

Autism assessment in Ayr & Ayrshire

Caledonian Psychiatry also offers private adult autism assessment for people in Ayr and across the wider county. Overlap between the two conditions is common: many patients who first come forward wondering about ADHD turn out to recognise autistic traits in themselves once they start describing their experiences in detail, particularly those who coped by working harder rather than differently through school, university or a career, only for the strain to catch up with them later in adult life. Rather than asking a patient to guess which label fits before booking, Dr Crocker assesses for both where it is relevant. The autism pathway mirrors the ADHD one in rigour — a structured developmental history, validated assessment tools, and a written report built to the same standard.

Where it isn’t clear in advance whether ADHD, autism, or both are in the picture, the combined ADHD and autism assessment folds both into a single pathway rather than requiring two separate bookings. Further detail sits on the autism assessment page and the private autism assessment in Scotland page.

What it costs

A standalone ADHD assessment — the two 60-minute video appointments described above — is priced at £800. Every other figure, including prescriptions and follow-up appointments, is listed in full on the fee schedule.

Where autism is also a possibility, the combined ADHD and autism assessment — three 60-minute sessions rather than two — comes to £1,300, and a standalone autism assessment is priced the same as the ADHD pathway, at £800. For a good number of Ayrshire patients who first get in touch about ADHD, autism turns out to be part of the conversation too, which is exactly what the combined route is designed for.

Titration is where hidden costs tend to creep in with some providers, so it is worth knowing up front that review appointments are £130 for 30 minutes and take place over the same video link — no repeat runs along the coast road, and no ferry from Brodick for patients on Arran. If you want to check the clinical bar the assessment itself must clear before committing, our quality standards page sets it out in full.

After a diagnosis — treatment and shared care

A confirmed ADHD diagnosis opens up medication as one option among several, not an automatic prescription. What happens with ongoing prescribing afterwards depends on the individual GP practice: Scotland has no blanket policy requiring GPs to take on shared care from a private psychiatrist, unlike arrangements in parts of England, so it comes down to what each practice is willing to do. To make that conversation as straightforward as possible, Dr Crocker writes every report to NICE and RCPsych standard with a GP reader specifically in mind, setting the reasoning out clearly enough that a practice unfamiliar with the patient can follow it and decide. The shared care with your GP page covers how that typically plays out.

Seen across Ayrshire and the southwest by secure video

There is no clinic to travel to, no drive up the A77 or A78, and — for patients on the Isle of Arran — no ferry crossing to the mainland. Ayrshire patients attend their appointments via a secure NHS-grade encrypted video platform from wherever they feel most at ease, whether that is home in Ayr, Troon or Prestwick, a quiet room during the working day in Kilmarnock or Irvine, or a house on Arran. Appointments are available during the working week, including early mornings and Fridays, to fit around work, study and ferry-free island life alike. To take the first step, use the contact details below — every enquiry gets a reply within 48 hours.