Thank you for your interest in our child and adolescent general psychiatry assessments. We understand that you may have some questions regarding the process, fees, and other aspects of the assessment. Please find below a thorough set of FAQs and answers:
1. What age range do you assess for child and adolescent psychiatry?
We assess children and adolescents from the age of 6 and above.
2. How does the assessment process work?
Prior to the assessment, electronic registration forms and questionnaires are completed by the parent/guardian and child. This information is reviewed by the consultant prior to the appointment.
In an ideal situation the forms to be completed by the school are back with the clinic prior to the first appointment, but when there are delays with completion of the forms by the school, the initial appointment can still go ahead despite this.
Registration forms are triaged to ensure suitability for the service. Where we feel we are not the most appropriate service for your child we will let you know and will provide signposting to a more suitable service.
The assessment is conducted online via video call and can be booked for 1.5 hours. The consultant will spend time with both the child and the parent/guardian together and separately. We generally strongly recommend the 1.5-hour assessment is booked to provide adequate time to explore things fully.
If you feel that the difficulty your child needs assistance with is circumscribed and focused in one specific area only, a 1.5-hour appointment may be sufficient, with the caveat that a further appointment may often be necessary to complete the assessment.
3. What happens during the appointment?
The consultant will conduct a comprehensive assessment, discussing past medical, personal, and family history. They will evaluate symptoms and behaviours to determine a diagnosis and develop an appropriate treatment plan.
4. What happens after the assessment?
Once all forms, including those completed by the school, have been submitted, and the appointment has taken place, the consultant will, having discussed the outcome of the assessment in the appointment, write a report providing a diagnosis (if applicable), and details and recommendations regarding the treatment plan. A prescription, if necessary, will be posted to a pharmacy chosen by the parent/guardian. On occasion particularly if a 1.5-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 and your child 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 than normal due to some of the same areas already having been explored in the general assessment.
The treatment plan will cover recommendations around environmental, and behavioural tools that may assist in an educational setting and at home, advice regarding talking therapies that may be helpful such as family therapy, individual therapy, CBT, and advice and referral to support classes to learn more about supporting your child with a particular condition. There may be recommendations for speech and language therapy input or occupational therapy input, and referrals can be made within Psymplicity or we can liaise with a 3rd party of your choice in collaboration with you. Medication can be prescribed where necessary following a collaborative discussion providing you with all the information necessary to decide with your doctor whether medication may be a suitable option for your child.
5. What are the fees for the assessment?
The fee for a child and adolescent 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 sent to you A clinical report confirming the assessment outcome will typically be sent within a week, often faster than this, after the initial appointment dependent on report complexity. When a child presents with more complex or a wider range of difficulties, the psychiatrist may need more time to fully diagnose and develop a treatment plan. In such cases, you may be asked to book a further appointment, to complete the assessment process. Follow up appointment pricing is also available on our website.
6. How long does it take to receive a clinical report?
A clinical report confirming the assessment outcome will typically be sent within a week, often faster than this, after the initial appointment dependent on report complexity.
7. How many follow-up appointments might be needed?
The number of follow-up appointments can vary. On average, a child would need several follow-ups to assess medication stability. Some children may require more follow-ups.
8. Can a GP prescribe medication based on the psychiatrist's diagnosis?
This is something that would need to be discussed with the GP. Most GPs would be willing to prescribe medication based on the diagnosis provided by the psychiatrist. We recommend speaking to your child’s GP at the earliest opportunity to confirm they would be happy taking over prescribing.
9. Can medication be obtained through repeat prescriptions?
Once a child is stable on their medication but not quite at the shared care agreement stage, they can request repeat prescriptions via the website. 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 your child is on stable dose of medication being prescribed by your child’s doctor at Psymplicity, prescriptions are subject to an administrative fee as per our website. See our latest pricing page for further 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 parent to the pharmacy. Indicative pricing 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.
10. Can my child receive ongoing care under private care?
Yes, your child can choose to continue receiving their treatment under private care. They can request repeat prescriptions and have regular follow-up appointments with the psychiatrist.
11. Can my child transfer to NHS care after some time?
Most GPs are willing to take over prescribing medication after approximately 3 months when a child is on a stable dose of medication. It is recommended to discuss this with your GP.
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.