Already diagnosed? Transferring ADHD care or reviewing an older or overseas diagnosis

If you’ve already been diagnosed with ADHD, you often don’t need to start again. A UK specialist can review your original report against NICE standards, then rely on it, ask for more information or recommend a new assessment. The more complete your report and treatment records are, the smoother the move.

Who is this guide for?

It’s for anyone who already has an ADHD diagnosis and wants to continue, restart or review their care in the UK. For example, you were diagnosed:

• privately, by another clinic
• through NHS Right to Choose in England
• by an NHS service in England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland
• as a child, and you haven’t had treatment for years
• abroad
• by a provider that has since closed or stopped seeing you

If you’re an adult diagnosed elsewhere and would like to carry on your care with us, our page for people diagnosed elsewhere explains how it works. The rest of this guide covers what any reviewer looks for, so you can prepare whichever route you choose.

What do clinicians and GPs look for in a previous report?

The NICE guideline on ADHD (NG87) says a diagnosis should only be made by a specialist psychiatrist, paediatrician or other appropriately qualified healthcare professional with training and expertise in ADHD, and not on rating scales or observation alone. A reviewer checks your report against those standards.

What the reviewer checks	Why it matters
Who assessed you	NICE expects a specialist or other qualified professional with ADHD training. Reviewers look for a name, role and registration number.
The criteria used	Symptoms should meet DSM-5 or ICD-11 criteria.
Evidence from childhood	DSM-5 expects several symptoms before about age 12. Parent or sibling reports and school reports are the usual evidence.
More than one setting	NICE says symptoms should cause at least moderate problems in 2 or more settings, such as home, work or study.
How the decision was made	A full clinical assessment, with other people’s views where possible. A questionnaire score alone isn’t enough.
Other conditions considered	Anxiety, depression, autism, trauma, sleep problems and substance use can look like ADHD or come alongside it.
Treatment history and health checks	Medicines tried, doses, side effects, and recent blood pressure, pulse and weight help a prescriber decide what is safe.

A short letter that says “diagnosed with ADHD” usually isn’t enough. Ask the service that assessed you for the full report. Local NHS rules often ask for the same things: one English ICB’s July 2026 guidance on private shared care requests says the specialist must be UK-registered and appropriately trained, and the diagnosis must follow NG87.

Why do some providers refuse outside diagnoses and others accept them after a review?

No law or guideline makes a clinic, GP or NHS service accept another provider’s diagnosis. Whoever prescribes carries responsibility for that decision, and the GMC’s shared care guidance says a doctor must be satisfied a prescription is appropriate and within their competence. Providers handle that in two main ways:

• Reassess everyone. The provider can’t see how an earlier diagnosis was made, so it applies one standard to all patients.
• Review the documents first. The provider reads your report and records, and only reassesses if there are gaps or doubts. This can be quicker and cheaper.

Neither approach is automatically better. What matters is that the provider tells you its policy and costs before you pay. NHS England’s 2026/27 ADHD and autism payment guidance says independent providers’ diagnostic reports “should be accepted by NHS commissioned titration services, unless there is a clear clinical reason not to”. That is guidance for NHS commissioners and services. It doesn’t make a GP prescribe, and it doesn’t bind private clinics.

Before you book, ask whether the provider accepts an existing diagnosis, which documents it needs, what a review costs and whether anything is credited if it recommends a full assessment. Our guide on how to choose a private ADHD clinic has more questions worth asking.

Can an ADHD diagnosis from abroad be used in the UK?

Often it can be the starting point for a review. UK clinicians run the same checks, whichever country the report came from. A few points apply to overseas diagnoses in particular.

Your report

Reports in English are simplest. If yours is in another language, ask the clinic what translation it needs before you pay.

Your medicines

Products and doses differ between countries. A UK prescriber can only prescribe what is available and suitable here, which can mean a different medicine and a new titration.

Bringing medicine into the UK

Stimulant ADHD medicines are controlled drugs, so Home Office rules apply. Non-stimulant medicines aren’t controlled, but ask your prescriber or pharmacist which yours is. The rules on taking medicine in or out of the UK say:

• The medicine must be lawfully prescribed to you, and you must carry it yourself. It can’t be posted to you from abroad.
• You can bring up to a 3-month supply. If you bring more, or have more posted, it can be taken away.
• Carry a letter from your prescriber showing your name, the medicine, dose, strength, quantity, your travel dates and their signature.
• A personal licence for more than 3 months’ supply is only possible in exceptional circumstances, and the cost of UK healthcare is unlikely to count. Apply a month before you travel.
• If you live in the UK and were prescribed medicine abroad, contact the Home Office’s Drugs and Firearms Licensing Unit before you bring it in.

Check GOV.UK before you travel, because details can change. Further supplies come from a UK prescriber, who must review you first, so book that review before you move. Travelling out of the UK with your medicine is covered in our guide to how private ADHD prescriptions work.

What if you move between England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland?

Your diagnosis is part of your clinical record and goes with you. NHS services, funding and shared care are local, and they differ by nation.

Nation	What to know
England	NICE NG87 applies. Right to Choose covers new NHS referrals, though some areas limit it. Shared care is voluntary for GP practices (BMA).
Scotland	NHS boards run services, guided by SIGN rather than NICE. No Right to Choose. NHS Lothian says practices may share care with private providers but there is “no requirement to do so”, and expects a specialist re-evaluation every 12 months.
Wales	Wales follows NICE. No Right to Choose. In May 2026 Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board said GP referrals with a private diagnosis “will be added to an ADHD waiting list for specialist review”. Check your own board’s policy.
Northern Ireland	The Department of Health endorses NICE guidance. No Right to Choose. Its February 2026 ADHD needs assessment says people diagnosed privately are “often unable” to get GP prescriptions under shared care.

Wherever you move, a shared care agreement is between a GP practice and a named specialist service. If you change practice or provider, expect to ask again. Read what to do if your GP won’t agree to shared care. For more on the other nations, see ADHD assessment in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Tell your prescriber before you move, because prescriptions are posted to your address.

What happens when children’s services hand over to adult care?

NICE says a young person receiving treatment from children’s mental health or paediatric services should be reassessed at school-leaving age, to decide whether treatment should continue into adulthood. If it should, the move to adult services should usually be finished by age 18, and a formal meeting between the two services should be considered. NHS England’s 2026/27 guidance adds that young people moving to adult services should be offered a transition appointment.

Waits for adult NHS ADHD services vary a lot, as the table above shows, so plan early:

• Ask the children’s service from about age 16 what the plan is at 18, and who will prescribe if there is a gap.
• Ask for the full diagnostic report, a medicines summary and growth, blood pressure and pulse records.
• If you were diagnosed as a child and had no care since, that diagnosis can still help. An adult review focuses on how ADHD affects you now.

What does a review of an existing diagnosis involve, and what does it cost?

At many clinics, a review of an existing diagnosis is shorter than a full assessment. The specialist reads your documents beforehand, then talks through your history, how ADHD affects you now, your physical health and any treatment so far. There are three usual outcomes: they can rely on your diagnosis and continue care, they need more information, or they recommend a full assessment. Fees vary, so see our guide to private ADHD assessment costs in the UK.

How do you get your old records?

Start with the service that diagnosed you and ask for the full report and any clinic letters. Your GP practice may also hold letters. If the provider has closed, ask the company that ran it who now holds the records. You can ask for a copy of your own data, verbally or in writing, with a subject access request. The Information Commissioner’s Office says organisations normally have one month to reply and can’t normally charge.

What if you’re running out of medication?

A new prescriber can’t usually prescribe on the day you ask. For controlled drugs, the GMC’s controlled drugs guidance says doctors prescribing remotely must not prescribe without access to your records, except where no one else can prescribe without unsafe delay. Act early:

1. Contact your current prescriber first, whether that’s your old clinic, an NHS ADHD service or your GP. Tell them how many days you have left.
2. Speak to your GP. They can advise, though they decide what they can safely prescribe and can decline to take over from a private prescriber.
3. Check it’s not just a stock problem. The Specialist Pharmacy Service says stock of some ADHD medicines varies by product and area. Your pharmacist can check other branches.
4. Don’t stop suddenly or change your dose without advice. Any break or dose change is a clinical decision to make with a prescriber.
5. Book your review now. A new prescriber needs to see you first.

Common questions

Will my GP take over prescribing if I bring a private diagnosis?

Not automatically. The BMA says shared care is voluntary and a practice can decline it for any reason. Some practices agree when the report is thorough and the dose is stable, and some don’t. Read about whether the NHS accepts a private ADHD diagnosis.

Can I move from NHS Right to Choose care to a private clinic?

You can choose to, but NHS funding for that care would stop and you’d pay privately. Ask your current provider about your options first, including what a handover would involve. Our guide compares Right to Choose and private assessment.

Is a diagnosis from a psychologist or nurse accepted?

It can be. NICE refers to “other appropriately qualified” professionals with ADHD training, so job title matters less than training, registration and how the assessment was done. Make sure your report shows the assessor’s name, role and registration number.

My child was diagnosed elsewhere. What are my options?

Ask the diagnosing service for the full report and any growth, blood pressure and pulse records. Providers differ on whether they review a child’s diagnosis, so ask in advance. With ADHD Health, please ask a question first by phone, email or the contact form, and we’ll explain what is possible and what our child and adolescent psychiatrist would need to see.

Sources

1. NICE. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: diagnosis and management (NG87), recommendations 1.1 (transition) and 1.3 (diagnosis). Last updated 2025.
2. NHS England. 2026/27 NHS Payment Scheme: ADHD and autism payment guidance. March 2026.
3. GOV.UK. Take medicine in or out of the UK. Accessed October 2026.
4. GOV.UK. Travelling with medicine containing controlled drugs. Last updated 11 April 2023.
5. GOV.UK. The NHS Choice Framework: what choices are available to me in the NHS? Updated 23 October 2024.
6. British Medical Association. Prescribing in general practice. Updated 28 April 2025.
7. General Medical Council. Good practice in prescribing and managing medicines and devices: shared care. 2021.
8. General Medical Council. Good practice in prescribing: controlled drugs and other medicines where additional safeguards are needed. 2021.
9. Nottinghamshire Medicines Management (NHS). Guidance on the management of private shared care prescribing requests. July 2026.
10. NHS Lothian. Freedom of information response 11738. 2026.
11. Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board. Freedom of information response CTMUHB 278/26. 26 May 2026.
12. Department of Health (Northern Ireland). ADHD needs assessment report. February 2026.
13. Specialist Pharmacy Service. Continuing management of the ADHD medicines shortage. Accessed October 2026.
14. Information Commissioner’s Office. What to expect after making a subject access request. Accessed October 2026.