Private ADHD Assessment: What to Expect from a Consultant Psychiatrist in the UK
Updated: 4 days ago
Many adults who recognise themselves in descriptions of ADHD wait months or years before seeking a formal assessment. NHS waiting lists for adult ADHD can stretch to two or three years in some areas, and not every GP feels confident initiating a referral. A private ADHD assessment offers a defined, timely route to a clinical opinion from a qualified specialist — usually within weeks rather than years.
This guide explains what a private ADHD assessment involves, how to choose the right provider, what happens after a diagnosis, and how IamPsychiatry approaches the assessment for adults in the UK.
Who seeks a private ADHD assessment?
Adults who book a private ADHD assessment come from a wide range of starting points. Some have never been assessed before and want answers after years of difficulty with concentration, time management, organisation or emotional regulation. Others have been told by their GP that waiting lists are very long and they want to explore a faster route. Some have a child who has received an ADHD diagnosis and recognise similar traits in themselves. A few are professionals whose functioning at work has changed in a way that does not make sense to them.
There is no single profile of someone who benefits from an assessment. ADHD in adults often looks different from the textbook picture of a hyperactive child. Adults more commonly present with a persistently busy or restless mind, difficulty sustaining attention on low-interest tasks, chronic lateness, incomplete projects, impulsive decisions, emotional sensitivity, and difficulty tolerating boredom or inactivity. Many have developed coping strategies that disguise how hard they work to manage these things.
What does a private ADHD assessment involve?
A thorough private ADHD assessment is a clinical process, not a questionnaire. The following outlines what a consultant psychiatrist-led assessment should cover.
Before the appointment
You may be asked to complete screening questionnaires before the session. These typically cover ADHD symptoms in adulthood, their impact on daily life, and relevant mental health history. Questionnaires do not diagnose ADHD — they help the clinician understand the territory before the detailed interview begins.
The Adult ADHD assessment itself
At IamPsychiatry, the full Adult ADHD assessment takes three hours. This allows time to explore your experiences in depth rather than working through a brief checklist.
The consultant psychiatrist will ask about your current symptoms and their effect on work, relationships, study and home life. Critically, ADHD is a neurodevelopmental condition — it begins in childhood, even when it is not recognised until adulthood. The assessment therefore explores your developmental history, including school experiences, childhood behaviour, and how the traits were present long before any adult-life pressures.
A medical and psychiatric history review identifies any other conditions that might explain or overlap with the presentation. Depression, anxiety, sleep disorders, trauma, thyroid problems, and stimulant or caffeine use can all affect attention and behaviour. The assessment considers these as alternatives and as conditions that may coexist with ADHD.
The clinician will use a validated diagnostic tool. At IamPsychiatry, this includes the DIVA-5 (Diagnostic Interview for ADHD in Adults), which is a structured interview that systematically maps current and childhood ADHD criteria. This follows NICE guidelines and the UKAAN Adult Assessment Quality Assurance Standards.
Where it is possible to obtain supporting information from someone who knew you in childhood — a parent, a sibling, or a school report — this can add useful context. It is not always available, and its absence does not prevent a thorough assessment.
The outcome
At the end of the assessment, the consultant will give you a clear clinical opinion. This is likely to be a diagnosis of Adult ADHD, or a conclusion that ADHD does not fully explain your experiences, with alternative explanations identified. A careful clinician will always explain the reasoning.
You will receive a written medical summary with the diagnostic outcome, a holistic treatment plan, and recommendations you can share with your GP.
What happens after a private ADHD diagnosis?
A diagnosis is the beginning of a practical plan, not the end of the process.
If ADHD is diagnosed and medication is appropriate, the next step is medication titration. This means starting at a low dose of an ADHD medication and adjusting it gradually based on benefit, side effects, blood pressure, pulse, sleep and appetite. At IamPsychiatry, the Adult ADHD Medication Titration Assessment is a separate one-hour appointment that includes a private prescription for the first month of medication, or an option for home delivery.
Psychological support may also be relevant, either alongside medication or as a first step. Evidence-based approaches for ADHD include CBT adapted for ADHD, psychoeducation and practical coaching for time management and organisation.
Shared care with your GP is a possibility once treatment is stable. Under a shared-care arrangement, your GP agrees to issue prescriptions and carry out routine monitoring while the specialist remains available for reviews. Shared care is not automatic — each GP practice makes its own decision — but a detailed specialist report makes the conversation with your GP clearer.
How do I choose a private ADHD assessment provider?
When evaluating a provider, these are the questions worth asking.
Is the assessment led by a consultant psychiatrist?
Some private providers use psychologists, nurse prescribers or other clinicians who are qualified to assess ADHD, but who cannot prescribe medication, assess for co-occurring conditions that require a medical opinion, or provide the same breadth of psychiatric oversight. A consultant psychiatrist is a medically qualified doctor with specialist psychiatric training — the same grade as a hospital consultant.
Does the assessment follow NICE guidelines?
The NICE guidelines for adult ADHD (NG87) specify a comprehensive assessment process. The UKAAN Adult Assessment Quality Assurance Standards add specific requirements for assessors working with adults. Not all private providers follow these standards.
Can the clinician assess for overlapping conditions?
ADHD frequently coexists with anxiety, depression, sleep disorders, autism spectrum conditions, bipolar disorder and trauma responses. A good assessment rules these in or out rather than treating ADHD in isolation.
What happens if you need treatment?
Some assessment services do not offer ongoing treatment. Knowing whether the provider offers medication titration, follow-up, and a pathway to shared care avoids a situation where you have a diagnosis but no clear treatment route.
What does a private ADHD assessment cost in the UK?
Private ADHD assessments in the UK typically range from around £700 to £1,500 for an adult assessment, depending on the clinician's qualifications, the length and depth of the assessment, and the location. A brief online assessment and a full three-hour consultant psychiatrist assessment are different things — the length and scope of the assessment matters.
At IamPsychiatry, the Adult ADHD Assessment (3 hours, consultant psychiatrist-led, DIVA-5, NICE-compliant) is priced at £1,000 for a standard appointment within 30 working days, or £1,200 for an out-of-hours appointment within 15 working days. This includes the written medical summary and holistic treatment plan.
There is also a non-medical ADHD assessment option (£300, within 5 working days), conducted by a specialist with all diagnoses quality-assured and confirmed by Dr Mohiuddin. This can be appropriate where a faster report for workplace or educational purposes is the priority.
About IamPsychiatry
IamPsychiatry is a private mental health practice based in Luton, Bedfordshire, serving adults across the UK. Dr Iqbal Mohiuddin is a Consultant Psychiatrist and Adult ADHD Specialist with over 27 years of NHS and private experience. He holds UKAAN ADHD Assessment and Pharmacological Treatment accreditation and is DISCO-accredited for autism assessment.
The practice has held a Google rating of 5.0 stars from 198 patient reviews since 2018, and carries a iWantGreatCare Certificate of Excellence from 2025.
Adult ADHD Assessments are available face to face at the Luton clinic which is the preferred option or by video consultation across the UK if you are unable to attend in person. No GP referral is required.
How to book a private ADHD assessment
To arrange a private ADHD assessment, or to ask a question before booking, contact IamPsychiatry:
Freephone: 0800 779 7800 (Monday to Friday, 10am to 6pm)
Email: driqbal@iampsychiatry.com
Website: Book an appointment
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a GP referral for a private ADHD assessment?
No. At IamPsychiatry, self-referral is accepted. You can book directly without a letter from your GP, although a GP summary can be helpful if one is available.
Will a private ADHD diagnosis be accepted by the NHS for medication?
A private diagnosis does not automatically entitle you to NHS prescribing, but it can support a shared-care arrangement where your GP agrees to prescribe based on the specialist's assessment. Many GPs accept a thorough private psychiatric report. IamPsychiatry provides a detailed medical summary specifically designed to support this conversation.
How long does ADHD medication titration take?
Titration typically takes two to four months, though this varies. The aim is to find the dose and formulation that offers the best benefit with tolerable side effects, using the lowest effective dose rather than the highest. Regular follow-up is part of the process.
Can I be assessed for both ADHD and autism in one appointment?
The overlap between ADHD and autism (sometimes called AuDHD) is well recognised. Dr Mohiuddin holds both UKAAN ADHD accreditation and Diagnostic Interview for Social Communication Disorders (DISCO) autism assessment accreditation. A combined assessment pathway can be arranged though an autism assessment takes much longer to complete (typically 6 to 8 hours) and costs more. Read more: Adult Autism and ADHD Overlap.
What if I already have an ADHD diagnosis but need medication?
If you have a previous ADHD diagnosis and need medication titration, a medication titration assessment can be arranged separately. Contact the practice to discuss your history before booking.
Dr Iqbal A Mohiuddin, Consultant Psychiatrist and Adult ADHD Specialist, IamPsychiatry, Luton. GMC registered (No. 4579557). UKAAN-accredited. DISCO-accredited. MRCPsych.
Clear and reassuring information! Understanding what a private ADHD assessment involves helps people take the first step with confidence, and this post explains the process kindly and professionally. Thank you for sharing, merge fellas
يساعد هذا الدليل الباحثين عن تسجيل الدخول إلى مسار الابتدائي على التعرف على الخدمات التعليمية المتاحة، وفهم أهمية متابعة النتائج والمعلومات المدرسية بطريقة واضحة ومناسبة للأسر المغربية.
That UKAAN conference in London back in September 2019 caught my eye, and the NHS waiting list thing is real. I've been using Nano AI maker for quick image and audio generation, one sub covering a pile of top AI models, which saves me bouncing between tools. Going private for an ADHD psychiatrist does seem like the practical route when the queue stretches out.
The bit about Dr Iqbal Mohiuddin attending the UKAAN conference in London in September 2019 stood out, especially the note that the network started a decade earlier to train NHS clinicians. Then mention I've been messing with space waves, a side-scrolling arcade game where you steer an arrow through tunnels.
The UKAAN conference marking 10 years in London stood out, partly because I had no clue adult ADHD services were that organised back in 2019. Those NHS waiting lists still sound rough. I usually kill time between things with baseball bros unblocked, a browser baseball game that runs on pure timing, and it keeps my hands busy while my head catches up.