An ADHD diagnosis often isn’t the end of the process — for many adults, the next question is what happens if medication is appropriate, and whether that has to stay private indefinitely. This is where a Shared Care Agreement usually comes in.
What a Shared Care Agreement is
A Shared Care Agreement (SCA) is a formal arrangement between a specialist (who starts and stabilises ADHD medication) and your GP, where the GP agrees to take over ongoing prescribing and monitoring once your dose is stable. It’s the mechanism that lets medication started privately move onto an NHS prescription for day-to-day management, rather than every prescription having to come from a private specialist indefinitely.
Why it isn’t automatic
An SCA requires your GP’s agreement — it isn’t something a specialist can impose. Some GP practices are set up for this routinely, others are more cautious, particularly with controlled medications, and local NHS guidance on shared care for ADHD medication varies by area. This is genuinely worth discussing with your own GP directly, since practice-level policies differ and change.
Where this practice fits in
Medication itself is prescribed and titrated by a psychiatrist or another appropriately qualified prescriber, not by me — my role as the diagnosing psychologist is the assessment, the diagnosis, and then working with your GP and prescriber to put a Shared Care Agreement in place once dosing is stable, so ongoing prescribing and monitoring can, where the GP agrees, move onto the NHS rather than staying private long-term. If this is something you want to plan for before you even book an assessment, it’s a reasonable thing to raise at the initial consultation.
For the full picture on assessment and next steps, see the psychological assessment page, which also covers NHS Right to Choose referrals.
