Why did NHS Highland say I don't meet the criteria?
Almost certainly because of the severity threshold rather than the diagnosis itself. NHS Highland's adult ADHD pathway opened in October 2022 and closed to new referrals in October 2023 under the weight of demand. The adult Community Mental Health Team now accepts ADHD referrals only from people meeting "Level 4: Severe" under the NAIT framework, and the board has acknowledged this leaves no service for those at Level 3. That is a resourcing decision, not a clinical statement about whether you have ADHD.
Will you assess me if I'm not classed as severe?
Yes. We assess against DSM-5-TR diagnostic criteria and apply no severity threshold. If your symptoms have persisted since childhood and cause meaningful impairment, you are within scope regardless of where NHS Highland's NAIT banding would place you.
What is the fee for a private ADHD assessment?
£900 paid in full, or from £225 monthly on a payment plan, covering the whole diagnostic process and your report. If you want autism assessed at the same time, the combined pathway is £1,950 in full or £487 monthly — less than arranging the two separately.
Can this be done without travelling from the Highlands?
Yes, and for most of our Highland patients it is. Adult assessment is completed entirely by secure video. For children, parent interviews and the feedback session are online, with a trip to Edinburgh or Glasgow needed only where direct observation of the child is clinically required.
Do I need my GP to refer me?
No — you can approach us directly. We will ask permission to write to your Highland GP afterwards, both for continuity of care and to open the conversation about shared care prescribing.
What happens about medication after diagnosis?
Where medication is clinically indicated we can start and titrate it ourselves. Some Highland GPs will take on ongoing prescribing under shared care, which is usually the more convenient long-term arrangement, but it varies by practice and is never guaranteed. Your diagnosis carries full clinical weight either way, having been made by a GMC-registered consultant psychiatrist to NICE NG87 standards.
I'm in my forties — is it too late to be assessed?
No. Late diagnosis is one of the things we do most. ADHD is present from childhood but frequently goes unnoticed, especially in girls, in people whose intelligence masked the difficulties, and where restlessness was internal rather than disruptive.
Can I be assessed for autism at the same time?
Yes, and in the Highlands this is particularly worth doing. The two conditions overlap often, and NHS Highland has historically run ADHD and autism assessment through separate services, meaning two referrals and two waits. We look at both in one consultant-led pathway.
