Thank you for your interest in our adult general psychiatry assessments. We understand that you may have some questions about the assessment process, fees, and other aspects. Please find some common questions and answers below:
1. What is included in an adult general psychiatry assessment?
Our adult general psychiatry assessments typically last 1-1.5 hours. During the assessment, our consultant psychiatrist will conduct a comprehensive evaluation of your symptoms, medical history, personal history, and family history. They will aim to provide a diagnosis (where possible/appropriate), develop a personalized treatment plan, and discuss any necessary prescriptions.
2. How does the assessment process work?
The assessment is conducted through a 1-1.5-hour video call appointment. Prior to the appointment, we may request certain forms to be completed and submitted. These forms provide valuable information to assist the consultant in making an accurate diagnosis. Once the assessment is complete, you will receive a clinical letter outlining the assessment findings and recommended treatment plan.
Registration forms are triaged to ensure suitability for the service. Where we feel we are not the most appropriate service for you we will let you know and will provide signposting to a more suitable service.
We generally recommend the 1.5-hour assessment is booked to provide adequate time to explore things fully.
If you feel that the difficulty you need assistance with is circumscribed and focused in one specific area only, a 1-hour appointment may be sufficient, with the caveat that a further appointment may be necessary to complete the assessment.
Once the appointment has taken place, the consultant will, having discussed the outcome of the assessment in the appointment, write a report providing a diagnosis, and details and recommendations regarding the treatment plan. On occasion particularly if a 1-hour appointment has been booked initially, the Consultant may only be able to provide a differential diagnosis and may need to spend additional time with you to complete a comprehensive assessment, where there are several areas that require further exploration.
Occasionally further possible specific diagnosis might need to be considered, for example if Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or Autism Spectrum Disorder is suspected. These will require separate assessments, although these would be of a shorter duration and would cost less due to some of the same areas already having been explored in the general assessment.
The treatment plan will cover recommendations around behavioural tools that may assist in an educational home or work setting, advice regarding talking therapies that may be helpful such as family therapy, individual therapy, CBT or EMDR or any number of other therapies available. Referrals can be made within Psymplicity or we can liaise with a 3rd party of your choice in collaboration with you.
3. What is the fee for an adult general psychiatry assessment?
The fee for an adult general psychiatry assessment can be found on our latest pricing page. In most instances, the initial assessment provides sufficient time to arrive at a diagnosis, discuss and initiate treatment with a clinical report confirming the assessment outcome typically being sent within a week, often faster than this, after the initial appointment dependent on report complexity. When a patient presents with more complex or a wider range or difficulties, they may be asked to book a further appointment, to complete the assessment process. Follow up appointment pricing is also available on our website.
4. Can a patient receive a prescription during the assessment?
If deemed necessary and appropriate, our consultant psychiatrist may prescribe medication as part of the treatment plan discussed in the assessment. A prescription will be posted to the pharmacy of your choice; however, please note that the pharmacy will charge for the medication separately.
5. Can a patient continue to see the psychiatrist for ongoing care?
Yes, if you choose to continue your treatment with us, you can request repeat prescriptions and have regular follow-up appointments with the psychiatrist. The pricing for different types of follow-up appointments can be found on our latest pricing page. Longer review appointments are also available.
6. Can a patient transfer to NHS care for ongoing treatment?
In many cases, primary care physicians (GPs) are willing to take over prescribing medications once the patient is considered stable on the medication, which is typically around 3 months and sometimes earlier than this. We recommend speaking to your GP at the earliest opportunity to confirm they would be happy taking over prescribing.
7. Can a patient request a repeat prescription without an appointment?
Once you are stable on your medication but not quite at the stage of a Shared Care Agreement, you can request a repeat prescription via our website. Prescriptions are subject to an administrative fee as per our website. See our latest pricing page for more details. As Psymplicity will be issuing a private prescription, the cost of the medication issued by and invoiced by the pharmacy will require payment by the patient to the pharmacy.
Indicative pricing for the costs of the medication itself can be found by looking at the BNF website, selecting a medication, going to the medicinal form section where the baseline price of each branded and generic medication is available. Pharmacies will typically charge more than this and charge for direct home delivery where this service is requested.
Where prescriptions are issued within appointments, there is no prescription charge. However, when issued outside of appointments, which will typically occur on a monthly basis when you are on stable dose of medication being prescribed by your doctor at Psymplicity, prescriptions are subject to an administrative fee as per our website.
8. Can a GP prescribe medication based on the diagnosis provided by the psychiatrist?
This is something that you would need to discuss with your GP. In most cases, GPs are willing to prescribe medication based on the diagnosis provided by the psychiatrist.
9. What if I have insurance coverage?
If you have insurance coverage, we recommend contacting your insurer before booking an appointment to confirm if the appointment will be covered. You will need to obtain an authorization code from your insurer. Psymplicity will invoice you for the appointment with payment required prior to your appointment taking place. We will provide all necessary documentation for you to submit a claim for reimbursement to your insurance company. Please note that we do not reclaim the clinic fee on your behalf.
We hope these FAQs have addressed your questions. If you would like to book an appointment, please click here to book.
Please do not hesitate to contact us with any further queries. We strive to provide individualized care and support to each of our patients.