Shared Care
When your prescriber is satisfied that dose optimisation has been reached, they will invite you to an End of Titration Review. Dose optimisation allows for the adjustment of doses to individual patient needs to achieve maximum benefit from the new medication, with minimal side effects.
Your prescriber will review your progress and discuss your future treatment plan, which may include psychosocial support in addition to medication. We will then write to your GP to ask if they will accept a Shared Care Agreement (SCA).
As the term suggests, your care will be shared between your GP and Psychiatry UK under a Shared Care Agreement.
In practice, this means that your GP surgery will issue your future prescriptions and arrange to review your blood pressure, pulse and weight at six-monthly intervals.
At the end of 12 months, you’ll be invited to attend an annual review with Psychiatry UK – in some areas, this will be offered by another service, such as your local NHS team or within primary care, depending on local and contractual shared care arrangements.
If you have any queries or concerns about your medication when you are in shared care, you are requested to contact your GP in the first instance. They can contact us at any time if they feel that specialist advice or an earlier review is needed.
For more information download our guide: Shared Care: How it Works.
Some GPs do decline to prescribe ADHD medication, for different reasons:
- In some locations, the recommended medication is not funded by the local ICB.
- Sometimes the local mental health service insists they review a patient before accepting a diagnosis from any other location or service.
If your GP declines shared care, we will continue to issue your medication prescriptions.
When we write to your GP to request a SCA, your MedQare portal will be updated to ‘View only’ status. You’ll still see all your notes and you’ll be able to view and download any attachments, but if you need to speak to a member of the titration team, you will need to get in touch via our Live Chat.
Your assessment report (also known as your ‘clinic letter’) will contain a link to additional resources. Further support may also be found in the resources below.
If you need emergency care, please follow the guidance here, or you can download and keep our useful resource guide.
We have produced some helpful guides to help you understand and manage your ADHD.
Additional support resources are available in our resource section.
AADDUK – A website run and maintained by adults with ADHD, providing information on support groups and a support forum.
ADDISS – The National Attention Deficit Disorder Information and Support Service provides people-friendly information and resources about ADHD.
ADDitude Magazine – A comprehensive online resource for people with ADHD, their families and professionals.
UKAAN – The UK Adult ADHD Network is a resource for healthcare professionals and individuals seeking knowledge about adult ADHD.
ADHD UK – ADHD UK is a charity which helps people navigate their life with ADHD. It works to build awareness to help fund research into the impact of ADHD.
Frequently Asked Questions
- If your GP accepts shared care, your ongoing prescriptions will be issued by your GP surgery.
- Your blood pressure, pulse and weight will need to be monitored every 6 months.
- We will contact you directly to arrange an annual review appointment. If a review is required before this is due, we will require a written request from your GP before a booking can be made.
- Please note: If you are a patient with a local ADHD service, you will be transferred back to that service for shared care, and they will arrange annual reviews, or any other follow-up that is needed.
- A copy of your clinic letter and Shared Care Agreement (SCA) will be sent to your GP. They will be requested to return a signed copy of the SCA. If we do not receive this within 4 weeks, we will contact your GP for their decision. We will inform you once we have had a response from your GP.
- If you need a prescription while your shared care request is being processed, please request this from your prescriber as you have done during titration. If you are having trouble requesting a prescription, please contact us via our live web chat service.
- We would advise that you contact your GP directly as well to find out if they are accepting shared care, as they will not necessarily reach out to you.
Most referring GPs are happy to take on a Shared Care Agreement (SCA), but there is no obligation for them to do so. There are also some areas of England where certain medications cannot be prescribed by a GP, and they are legally unable to accept the SCA. In these cases, we would continue to prescribe for you and invoice the ICB.
If your GP declines shared care prescribing, we will require a letter or email from your GP to confirm this. Psychiatry UK will then continue to provide your repeat prescription.
Please note: If you are a patient with a local ADHD service, you will be transferred back to that service for shared care. If your GP declines shared care, your local service will take over your prescribing.
Please contact us via our Virtual Assistant service. This is available from our website, portal or Companion app (we are open Mon-Fri 8am-6pm).