Assessments for adult ADHD: what makes them good enough?

Concerns have been raised in the media1 over the quality of assessments for adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and the role of the private sector.2 Patients who feel unable to accept long NHS waiting lists and NHS commissioning bodies (including via ‘right to choose’) may pay significant sums for ADHD assessments, often without knowing how valid or cost-effective they are. Patients subsequently expect GPs to prescribe medication (mainly stimulants, which are controlled drugs) when primary care staff may have questions about the rigour of the diagnostic assessment or treatment. The patient may then be referred for a long awaited new NHS assessment, with difficulties if the diagnosis is rescinded. A published framework of what expert consensus deems a high-quality assessment would be useful to patients, GPs, commissioners, psychiatrists, and others. This could help GPs to have more confidence to challenge poor assessments and accept good ones. It might help patients to decide where they spend money and commissioners to consider service-level agreements. The UK Adult ADHD Network (UKAAN, www.ukaan.org), was founded in 2009 and provides training courses, education, support, and research for professionals working with adults with ADHD. UKAAN has been working for over a year to produce an expert consensus statement for an Adult ADHD ‘Assessment Quality Assurance Standard (AQAS)’. Boxes 1 and 2 provide a summary from the AQAS of what a quality assessment should constitute. | | ||