Everything you need to know about starting and managing ADHD medication — from your first follow-up through to Shared Care with your GP.
If it's agreed to start a trial of medication for ADHD symptoms, you would need to attend a follow up appointment within 4 to 6 weeks, then again after 3 months, and after this you would need a medication review in our clinic every 6 months in line with NICE guidelines and the Shared Care agreement. We also ask for email feedback 7-10 days from commencing medication.
After 3 months, if your child is on a stable and effective dose, we can ask the GP to take over prescribing under Shared Care. Please note, the GP is not obliged to agree to shared care. The GP can then provide NHS prescriptions and Dr Cassie would be responsible for monitoring via 6-monthly reviews.
We also encourage parents to ask the GP to refer to the CAMHS Treatment Pathway if they wish. This will then give the option in the future of both prescriptions and medication monitoring to be taken over by the NHS service.
We provide the following resources to patients starting medication, and to parents of children starting medication. Ask us for a copy at your consultation:
If you (or your child) are on ADHD medication, Shared Care is the long-term goal — so prescriptions transfer to the NHS and costs drop significantly.
We issue private prescriptions while the medication is being titrated and the dose optimised. Follow-ups at 4–6 weeks, then 3 months. Email feedback 7–10 days after starting.
Once you're on a stable and effective dose, we can ask your GP to take over prescribing under Shared Care. The GP isn't obliged to agree, but most do.
Your GP provides NHS prescriptions going forward. Dr Cassie continues to monitor you or your child via 6-monthly medication reviews, in line with NICE guidelines.
For children, we encourage parents to ask their GP to refer to the CAMHS Treatment Pathway. Over time, this can give the option of NHS-led prescribing AND monitoring.