Transferring your ADHD care

Why people move their care

Adult ADHD care in the UK has grown very quickly, and so has the number of clinics providing it. Most people who transfer their care to us are not unhappy with their diagnosis — they are unhappy with what happened after it. The stories we hear are remarkably consistent: reviews that are difficult to book and over in minutes, a different prescriber at every appointment, medication decisions that feel driven by a protocol rather than by how you are actually doing, and dispensing arrangements that leave you paying more than you need to for the same medication.

Moving your care is more straightforward than most people expect, and you are entitled to do it at any time. Your diagnosis belongs to you, and your records are yours to take with you. The rest of this guide sets out what is worth checking before you choose where to go — questions worth asking of any provider, including us.

Start with regulation

Independent clinics in Scotland are regulated by Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) — the same national body that inspects NHS services. Caledonian Psychiatry was the first independent medical agency to be regulated by HIS (registration 03427), and every assessment and review is conducted to the published quality standards the practice works to. Regulation matters more than marketing: it means inspection, published standards, and a formal complaints route that does not depend on the goodwill of the clinic.

Wherever you take your care — to us or anywhere else — ask who regulates the provider and check the registration. A well-run clinic will tell you without hesitation.

Ask who you will actually see

ADHD services vary widely in who delivers the ongoing care. In some, prescribing decisions pass between whichever clinicians are available, and you may rarely see the same person twice. At Caledonian Psychiatry every appointment — the transfer review, titration and every follow-up — is with a psychiatrist, and with one named psychiatrist throughout your care, so the person adjusting your dose is the person who knows your history, your sensitivities and your circumstances. Continuity is not a luxury in medication management; it is how good decisions get made, and it means you spend your appointment being treated rather than re-explaining yourself.

Expect care that is tailored, not templated

Symptom questionnaires have a legitimate place in monitoring, but they are the start of a review, not the whole of it. A proper medication review asks about your sleep, appetite, blood pressure, mood and side effects — and also about what your work, studies and home life are demanding of you, and whether the current treatment is helping the things you actually care about. Doses are adjusted to your response, not to a schedule. That is the standard our approach page describes, and it is why our follow-up appointments are 30-minute consultations rather than a form to complete: long enough for a real conversation, and priced (£130) so that regular review remains affordable.

Understand the real ongoing costs

The headline assessment fee is only part of the picture. The real cost of ADHD care is what you pay year on year: reviews, prescriptions and the medication itself — and you should be able to work all of it out before you commit, not discover it afterwards. We publish every fee up front on our fees page: a transfer-of-care review is £350, follow-ups are £130, and private prescriptions are £30 for controlled medications or £25 for non-controlled ones. There is no subscription and no membership fee: you pay for the appointments and prescriptions you actually use, and once your care is stable and shared care with your GP is in place, most routine prescribing moves to the NHS.

We take the same approach to the medication itself. Most clinics leave you to discover what your prescription will cost at the counter; our medication costs page publishes typical pharmacy prices drug by drug — realistic monthly ranges for the medications we actually prescribe — precisely so there are no surprises. If honesty about the total cost of care matters to you, ask any provider you are considering to show you the same figures.

Keep your choice of pharmacy

A private prescription from us can be dispensed at any pharmacy you choose. We do not require you to use a nominated or partner pharmacy, and that matters more than it sounds: the price of the same ADHD medication varies widely between dispensers, and a local high-street pharmacy is often the cheapest option once you compare — the published price ranges on our medication costs page are a sensible starting point for that comparison. Controlled prescriptions are posted to you by Royal Mail Tracked 24, so they arrive promptly and can be dispensed wherever suits you.

How transfer of care works

Transfer begins with a 60-minute review appointment by secure video (£350). Dr David Crocker goes through your original diagnostic report and its supporting documentation, takes a detailed medication history — what you have tried, what helped and what did not — reviews how you are doing now, and agrees a clear plan with you. For most people that plan is simple continuity: the same medication, prescribed reliably, with sensible monitoring. The transfer of care page sets out the clinical detail in full.

Two things are worth knowing before you book. First, we need your diagnostic documentation — a copy of the assessment report that led to your diagnosis. Second, because ADHD medication is usually a controlled drug, we involve your GP before prescribing: a brief medical history and confirmation of your details. This is a routine part of safe prescribing rather than an obstacle, and once treatment is stable we aim to establish shared care with your GP wherever practical.

If the review concludes that your existing documentation cannot support ongoing prescribing under our standards, we will say so plainly — and the review fee is refunded in full or, at our discretion, put towards a discounted fuller assessment. You will not pay for an appointment that cannot move your care forward.

Diagnosed abroad? You are just as welcome

A growing share of the people who transfer to us were diagnosed outside the UK — including many international students who arrive for university with a diagnosis and an interrupted supply of medication. We are genuinely pleased to see international diagnoses: ADHD is the same condition everywhere, and a thorough assessment is a thorough assessment whether it took place in Edinburgh or overseas. What we look at is the clinical quality of the assessment and its documentation, never the country it came from. Bring your diagnostic report and any prescribing records to the review; if your report is not in English, we will ask for a translated copy — but an overseas diagnosis is never, in itself, a problem. The one UK-specific step is GP registration — you will need to be registered with a GP here (for students, usually the university practice) before controlled medication can be prescribed, so it is worth arranging early.

Everything is delivered remotely by secure video, so transferring your care does not mean travelling anywhere — we see patients across Scotland and the wider UK. You can reach the practice directly by email or phone, and non-urgent messages are answered within 48 hours. The previously diagnosed ADHD booking page explains the documentation conditions in full before you commit to anything.