ENS - ADHD Assessments
Adult ADHD Assessments
Our adult ADHD assessment is a thorough, evidence-based process designed to help you understand whether ADHD may explain the difficulties you experience.
The assessment considers more than the presence of ADHD traits. We explore your symptoms, developmental history, day-to-day functioning, physical and mental health, and any other factors that could provide a better explanation for your experiences.
To ensure robust diagnosis, some cases are reviewed by our multidisciplinary team before an outcome is confirmed if required.
Our ADHD assessment is a comprehensive, multi-stage process completed over more than one appointment.
The Assessment Process
Step 1: Complete our free ADHD screening questionnaire
The first step is to complete our online ADHD self-screening questionnaire. This is free of charge and helps us establish whether a full ADHD assessment may be appropriate.
A member of our clinical team will review your responses.
If your screening indicates that an ADHD assessment is unlikely to be appropriate, we will explain this and provide information or signposting where possible.
If your screening responses indicate that progressing to an ADHD assessment would be appropriate, you will be invited to apply to the service.
Screening does not provide a diagnosis. It helps us decide whether progressing to a comprehensive assessment is likely to be helpful.
Step 2: Apply to the service
You will be asked to complete:
1. Consent documentation
2. A mandate allowing us to request relevant GP records
We will review this information against our service’s inclusion and exclusion criteria.
If our service is suitable for you, we will arrange your initial clinical assessment and provide details of the assessment fee. If another service would be better placed to meet your needs, we will explain this and signpost you appropriately.
Step 3: Attend your initial clinical assessment
Your initial appointment will be completed by an appropriately trained clinician. It allows us to develop a detailed understanding of your current circumstances and confirm whether progressing to the diagnostic stage is clinically appropriate.
The appointment may explore:
Your reasons for seeking an assessment
Current ADHD symptoms and difficulties
Your developmental history
Your medical and mental health history
Your use of alcohol or other substances
Your physical health
Any current risks or safeguarding concerns
Other conditions that could contribute to your symptoms
Following this appointment, we may arrange your diagnostic assessment, request further records or supporting information, or recommend a more appropriate service.
Step 4: Complete your diagnostic assessment
Your comprehensive diagnostic assessment is completed using structured diagnostic interviews,
alongside the diagnostic criteria within the DSM-5-TR. No questionnaire or structured assessment tool is used in isolation to determine if a diagnosis should be made.
The clinician will explore:
Your childhood and developmental history
Your experiences in education
Your employment and occupational history
The symptoms you currently experience
Whether relevant symptoms were present during childhood
How your symptoms affect different areas of your daily life
Your physical and mental health
Possible alternative explanations for your difficulties
Other conditions that may be present alongside ADHD
An ADHD diagnosis requires more than the presence of individual traits. There must be sufficient evidence that symptoms have persisted over time, were present during childhood, before the age of 12, occurring across more than one relevant setting and have a meaningful effect your functioning.
Supporting information
Where possible, we will ask for information from someone who has known you for a significant period of time. This might be a:
Parent
Partner
Sibling
Relative
Friend or another person with longstanding knowledge of you
We may also review relevant GP or healthcare records where these are available.
We understand that not everyone can provide childhood records or identify someone who knew them when they were young. If this applies to you, we will discuss the information that is available and consider how the assessment can proceed.
Multidisciplinary review
Once the assessment has been completed, your case may be discussed by our multidisciplinary team.
This brings together clinicians from different professional backgrounds to consider the assessment findings, possible alternative explanations and any co-occurring conditions. The team will then agree the diagnostic outcome and appropriate recommendations.
A diagnosis is not made on the basis of a questionnaire or a single test.
Receiving Your Outcome
If ADHD is confirmed
You will receive:
A diagnostic feedback appointment
A written diagnostic report
An explanation of how ADHD relates to your individual experiences
Information about ADHD
Personalised recommendations
A discussion of available treatment and support
Depending on your needs and clinical suitability, your options may include ADHD-informed psychological therapy, coaching, organisational strategies, workplace or educational adjustments, or an assessment for medication.
If ADHD is not confirmed
Having ADHD traits does not necessarily mean that you meet the full criteria for an ADHD diagnosis.
If ADHD is not confirmed, we will explain the reasons for the outcome and discuss the factors that may be contributing to your difficulties. Where appropriate, we will provide practical recommendations and signpost you to other forms of support.
If another condition may be present
Sometimes an assessment identifies signs of another neurodevelopmental or mental health condition that may contribute to, coexist with, or provide an alternative explanation for a person’s experiences or require additional assessment.
This could include autism, anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, trauma-related difficulties or problems associated with substance use.
Where appropriate, we will discuss this sensitively and recommend the most suitable next step. This may include assessment through another ENS pathway or referral or signposting to a different service.
Support following diagnosis
A diagnosis is not the end of the process. If ADHD is confirmed, we can work with you to consider what support is likely to be most helpful.
This may include:
Psychoeducation
ADHD-informed psychological therapy
Coaching and practical strategies
Support with organisation and time management
Workplace or educational recommendations
Medication assessment and treatment, where clinically appropriate.
Any treatment plan will be personalised and agreed with you.
If you begin medication treatment, this will include the required physical health checks, careful initiation and adjustment of medication, ongoing monitoring and specialist review.