BOOKING AN APPOINTMENT

How to arrange an appointment

• Ask your GP for a referral letter, either addressed to myself or as an open referral to child psychiatry.
• I am happy to accept referral letters from private GP services. However your child must be registered with an NHS GP practice and any assessment reports must be shared with the NHS practice.
  
• If covered by a medical insurance policy, you will need to know the membership number and authorization code.
  
• Complete the Initial Enquiry Questionnaire using the link below. This will create a record on SEMBLE for your child.
  
• I will then contact you by e-mail to let you know if I can help, and if so I will send you a link to book an appointment.
  

​Due to limited clinic capacity and a high referral rate I am not currently able to accept new patients for assessment. The link to the Initial Enquiry Questionnaire has been temporarily removed.

Please be aware

• I am a child and adolescent psychiatrist so work with children and teenagers up to age 18
• I have only limited time for private work and the next available appointment may be several weeks ahead
• I am able to offer ADHD assessments but not Autism Spectrum Disorder assessments - if you are looking for an ASD assessment then you will need to look for a different doctor or clinic to carry this out.
• I cannot offer an emergency service. If you are seeking help in an emergency then you will need to access NHS services including your GP, Accident and Emergency, NHS 111 or 999.​ 

When booking an appointment on SEMBLE you will be able to choose between face-to-face appointments at Forest Therapy Centre (South Woodford), or at Prittlewell House (Southend), or video appointments using the SEMBLE video call system.

If you are arranging an ADHD assessment, then in addition to the assessment interview there are two tests: Conners-3 symptom questionnaires completed by a parent, a teacher and the young person, and QBcheck biometric test of attention and concentration taken by the young person. These tests can be carried out online. The fee for the test package (Conners-3 questionnaires and QBcheck) is £205. This is in addition to the cost of the interview and is invoiced separately. It is preferable to carry out the tests before the assessment interview, as in most cases I can then provide an opinion at the end of the interview. You may prefer to carry out the tests after the interview but would then need to arrange a follow-up appointment to discuss the results.

What to expect

I believe that young people should be treated with respect. Their concerns should be heard and taken seriously, and their own questions answered. It's helpful to meet young people together with their parents, however if they also wish to have some time to speak to me in confidence then this is always possible. During the assessment I will have to ask a lot of questions some of which may be personal. Young people can always tell me if they don't wish to answer a question.

The first appointment is for assessment. It's always an hour long. The young person and both parents should attend if possible. Most of the assessment involves asking and answering questions, however sometimes a physical examination may be needed. In most cases I will be able to complete the assessment and give an opinion at the first appointment, but very occasionally if the situation is complex then more time might be needed to complete an assessment.

Follow-up appointments are usually half an hour long but can also be booked for an hour if needed. A follow-up appointment may be needed to continue with a more complex the assessment, or to provide further advice if the situation has changed. If medication is prescribed then follow-up appointments are needed to monitor the effectiveness of the treatment, to manage any side effects that may occur, and to help decide whether to continue, change or stop treatment.

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