ADHD

If you feel that you may have ADHD and wish to be referred for an assessment on the NHS, please see below for the referral process, and what we will require from you.

1. Patients who wish to request a referral for ADHD assessment and treatment, must first contact the surgery via our Klinik system to initiate a request to be sent a questionnaire. At this stage of the process, we DO NOT require you to complete any RTC (Right to Choose) documentation.
2. Our Secretary team will contact you via AccuRx text message or email to acknowledge your request, and send you the questionnaire. It is important to ensure that we have up to date contact details for you on our system.
3. Once we have received your completed questionnaire, and the GP agrees that onward referral is appropriate, we will submit a referral to AWP ADHD team for approval. 
4. The AWP team will send you a pre-assessment questionnaire which will need to be completed and returned to them within 3 weeks.  Failure to do so will mean that your referral will be returned to the surgery unreported. 
5. Once you have returned your completed questionnaire to AWP, they will report back to your GP with the outcome.
6. If an ADHD referral is indicated, we will contact you to ask which NHS Right to Choose provider you would like us to send your referral to.  Please visit Right to Choose to select your chosen provider and waiting times.  We are unable to offer any recommendation on which provider to choose, or are unable to answer any queries on wait times once your referral has been submitted.

PLEASE SELECT YOUR PROVIDER CAREFULLY AS YOUR CHOICE CANNOT BE CHANGED ONCE THE REFERRAL HAS BEEN PROCESSED.

Local ADHD Service

Children with suspected ADHD should be referred to our Local ADHD Service by the school Special Educational Needs Co-ordinators (SENCo) where possible, rather than via a GP. They will be asked to complete the the School Referral Questionnaire for assessment of ADHD. 

This is preferable as:

1. Information from school is required as part of the assessment and before the assessment can begin
2. Schools need to be aware of the concerns, and may be able to resolve some of the issues with classroom intervention without the need for referral

Our Local ADHD Service are experiencing lengthy wait times currently due to the demand on their service.  If you wish to proceed with a referral to this service:

• complete the Parent Questionnaire for assessment of ADHD and return this directly to the School SENCo Coordinator
• young people over the age of 11 years may also want to give their own perspective on their symptoms.  If your child wishes to do this, please ask them to complete the Young Person Questionnaire for assessment of ADHD and return it together with the "Parent Questionnaire" to the School SENCo Lead

 Children outside of education or are home educated will need to contact the GP to arrange a referral.

Right to Choose (RTC) 

Currently Local ADHD Services have very long waiting times, however, your child can be referred to outside service providers for NHS Assessment and Diagnosis via RTC providers. 

1. Please read this leaflet before proceding with your chosen right to choose provider RighttoChooseAGuideforBNSSGFamilies
2. Once you have read the leaflet and are certain you wish to proceed down the RTC route, you will need to select your chosen provider (link can be found in the leaflet), and download the relevant documents from the providers web page.  Completed forms can be returned to Bedminster Family Practice via email (bedminsterfamilypractice@nhs.net), by post or face to face.  Please allow 7 working days for the forms to be uploaded to our clinical system before making a GP appointment

Children under 5

Although children can present from an early age with ADHD symptoms, local community paediatric services are not able to prescribe medication for ADHD in children under the age of 5 and restrict assessments until children are over this age. 

However, families who have children with ADHD symptoms that are aged under 5 years can receive support through locally delivered behavioural interventions focussing on the management of attention difficulties and challenging behaviour, such as the Incredible Years course. These can be accessed without a formal diagnosis of ADHD

Parenting programmes, advice and telephone support

Happymaps also has useful resources for parents and professionals for children at different ages:

• Pre-school age
• Primary school age
• Secondary school age

Children over the age of 17 years and 6 months will be re-directed to adult ADHD Services as their assessment will not be completed before they turn 18 years old.

Neurodiversity, autism and ADHD information for parents

Support for Children with Developmental, Communication or Neurodevelopmental Needs

If you are concerned about your child's speech, language, development, autism, ADHD or other additional needs, there are a number of services available to support you while waiting for appointments or assessments.

Support does not have to wait for an assessment/diagnosis. Many services can help children and families before, during and after the assessment process.

Useful local services:

Bristol Local Offer                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        SEND Local Offer

FLORA / Bristol Parent Carers
SEND service

Children’s Centres
https://www.southbristolcc.org.uk/

Portage Home Visiting Service
https://www.bristol.gov.uk/bristol-local-offer/parents-and-carers/support-at-home/portage-home-visiting-service

Bristol Autism Support
https://www.bristolautismsupport.org/

Murmuration Community Therapy
https://www.murmurationcommunitytherapy.com/

Family Learning Courses
https://www.bristol.gov.uk/bristol-local-offer/parents-and-carers/autism-support/family-learning-courses-and-seminars-for-parents-and-carers

Many parents find that learning about their child’s needs, accessing local support, and connecting with other families can make a real difference while waiting for specialist services.

If you need help accessing any of these services, please speak to a member of our team or ask for a referral to our Social Prescriber, Rachel.