What to Expect

Before your child’s first appointment

Before Your First Appointment

As you approach the top of our waiting list, we will contact you to gather important information. This will include details about your child’s:

• General health
• Family medical history
• Other services and support your accessing

This helps us plan your first appointment and ensure it runs as smoothly as possible.

Additional Checks

In some cases, we may request additional health checks such as an  ECG (Electrocardiogram) before starting medication. This will be discussed with you if it is required.

Your child’s first appointment

At your initial appointment you will meet with one of our prescribing clinicians, who will:

• Have your physical observations taken such as blood Pressure, heart rate, height and weight
• Review and clarify the information provided
• Discuss whether medication is a suitable option
• Explain the types of medication available and how they work

This appointment may last up to one hour, as it’s important we gather all necessary information to ensure it is safe to begin medication. If we decide it is safe and following all the information provided, the child and family would like to start medication, will issue a prescription on the day as well as a treatment plan that we would need you to follow.

Once your child has started medication

Once your child has started on medication they will have reviews with the prescribing clinicians to understand the impact of the medication. Once it has been decided the medication and dosage is working well, we will write to your GP to request a shared care agreement.  This means that the GP will be able to issue your prescriptions however we will continue to provide reviews for your child. If your GP surgery does not agree to a shared care agreement, we will continue to issue your prescriptions.

To ensure we can continue prescribing ADHD medication safely, the following requirements must be met:

Physical Observations

At each medication review appointment whether this is in person or online, we will require up-to-date physical observations, including:

• Blood pressure
• Height
• Weight
• Heart rate

These checks are essential for monitoring your young person’s health while on medication. They can be completed at home, by your GP, Pharmacy, in your community, during your medication review or by making an appointment to see our health care assistant before your child’s online appointment. We have created a Physical Observation Guide to outline these options further.

This video from the British Heart Foundation shows how to measure your blood pressure at home

If physical observation information is not provided regularly, we will no longer be able to continue prescribing medication and will inform the GP to cease issuing prescriptions.

Annual Face-to-Face Review

Young people must be seen for 6 monthly medication reviews and will require a face-to-face appointment once every 12 months to continue receiving medication. This is a key part of ensuring safe and effective treatment.

Missed Appointments

Please be aware that, in line with our Did Not Attend (DNA) policy:

• If a young person misses two appointments within a 12-month period, they will be discharged from the service.
• Any re-referral would result in your child going to the bottom of the waiting list.

Other factors that could impact the start or continuation of medication:

In some cases, there may be reasons we are unable to start medication or be able to continue prescribing in relation to your health and wellbeing:

• If the young person is taking an illegal substance we may need to consider if it is appropriate to start/continue medication due to the risk of these being taken together.
• If we identify any cardiac related concerns, or other health issues such as high blood pressure or low weight, we may review if it is safe to start or continue medication.

If these factors do affect your young person, the clinician seeing your child will discuss your options and what may need to happen before medication can commence or restart.