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Focused is an online clinic specialising in adult ADHD.

• Book a video appointment with an ADHD clinician to get a specialist assessment.
• Get a confirmed diagnosis from our clinician if they conclude that you have ADHD.
• Receive treatment recommendations and ongoing monthly prescriptions.

We understand that getting diagnosed with ADHD and finding the right support can be long, stressful, and expensive. So we simplified that process. We’ll provide you with a streamlined, low-cost and hassle-free consultation followed by a detailed, informative diagnosis.

Currently we’re only available in the UK. This means that we can only consult with and diagnose people who reside in the United Kingdom.

But we do have plans to expand into new countries. If you’re based outside the UK, we recommend signing up to our newsletter and following us on social media, and you’ll receive all the latest news and updates (including where we’re expanding to and when).

If you’re a patient, you can contact us by signing in to your Focused account and sending us a message.

If you’re not a patient, you can get in touch by completing the query form on our Contact us page.

Our Clinical Lead is Ms Danielle Mulligan. She has more than 10 years of experience in mental health, and a strong background and understanding in treating and managing ADHD. Danielle is a Nurse Practitioner and Nurse Prescriber registered with the NMC (No. 15A0206E).

Our other ADHD clinicians are:

• Dr Lily Hunt, a Registered Counselling Psychologist, registered with the HCPC (No. PYL041051)
• Ms Tia Calder, a Qualified Adult Nurse and Independent Nurse Prescriber, registered with the NMC (No. 12F1240E)
• Ms Claire Wright, a Qualified Adult Nurse and Independent Nurse Prescriber, registered with the NMC (No. 12A1630E)
Mrs Shola Akingbala, a Registered Psychotherapist registered with the BABCP (1006666)

And our wider medical team includes:

• Dr Daniel Atkinson, Clinical Director
• Ms Sanjeda Chowdhury, Clinical Support
• Mr Craig Marsh, Clinical Support

They provide us with their expertise on all things medical, and help make sure we’re providing safe and effective assessments.

You can contact the clinician any time by signing in to your Focused account and hitting the ‘chat’ icon. This will take you to your message centre where you can ask them any questions you need to.

Yes. Focused is regulated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

All of our ADHD clinicians are registered healthcare professionals licensed to practice in mental health.

Our Clinical Lead Danielle Mulligan is a qualified Nurse Practitioner specialising in ADHD, having worked in mental health services throughout the NHS. She’s registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC).

You can find more info about Danielle and our supporting clinicians on our medical team page.

Yes, Focused follows NICE guidance, including the NG87 which covers ADHD diagnosis and management, and the quality standard QS39.

Our pre-assessment is based on the ASRS-5, and our video assessments are based on the DSM-5 criteria.

It starts with the pre-assessment. Answer a few questions online about your health, mindset and feelings.

Then, we’ll ask you to provide contact details for someone who knows about you and your developmental history, and we’ll ask them to complete a short questionnaire about you too. Usually this is a parent or family member, but it can be someone outside of your family as long as they’ve known you since birth, and know info about your mother’s pregnancy.

Once we have this questionnaire back, we’ll let you know if we think a video consultation is right for you, and invite you to book an online appointment.

You can then choose an appointment slot from our calendar.

When it’s time for your appointment, you can connect with our clinician by hitting the meeting link in the confirmation email we’ll send you.

Appointments are usually at least 2 hours and may go on for longer, so we recommend keeping this in mind when booking your slot.

It’s an online form that should only take a few minutes.

You’ll be asked some questions about your ADHD symptoms, which help us to know if a further consultation is going to be worth your time. We’ll also ask you a few questions about your health, like whether you’re taking any medications at the moment, or have any allergies or pre-existing medical conditions. During the pre-assessment, you’ll also be asked to give consent for our clinician to access your NHS Medical Record, or Summary Care Record (if you live in England). The clinician will review this when checking your suitability for an ADHD assessment.

After this, we’ll ask you to provide contact details for someone to answer a few questions about you and your developmental history. This can be a parent or relative, or a family friend – they just need to have known you since birth, and know information about your mother’s pregnancy with you.

Once we have these questionnaires back, our clinician will invite you to make a video appointment if they think it’s right for you.

Our clinician will go through any points raised in your pre-assessment with you, and discuss these in more detail. They’ll also talk to you about your ADHD symptoms in more depth, to get an idea of how these are affecting your daily life, and explore whether these could be the result of ADHD.

Even though it’s a specialist appointment, it’s important to remember that it’s not an interview or a test. The consultation will be more like an informal chat, and although our clinician will ask you questions, you’ll also have the chance to ask them questions too.

It’s important for you to know that this call will be recorded, to help us make an accurate assessment and an appropriate diagnosis.

We recommend being at home because it makes the video consultation easier for most people.

But you don’t have to be. If you take the call somewhere else, just make sure you’re in a place:

• that’s quiet and private;
• where you’re able to talk and unlikely to be disturbed; and:
• with a healthy internet connection.

The consultation is over a video call, so the device you use must have a camera.

At present, we can only assess and diagnose ADHD.

No. Currently, we can only assess people aged 18 or over. If you’re seeking an ADHD assessment for your child, you’ll need to use an alternative provider.

No. Currently, we can only assess and diagnose ADHD. While autism may be discussed as a possible differential or as a combined factor alongside ADHD during your assessment, we’re unable to screen for autism or offer a diagnosis for it. For this, you would have to seek support from an alternative registered provider.

You could still take an ADHD assessment. But if the assessor suspected that you may meet the diagnostic criteria for combined ADHD and autism (AuDHD), they would likely come to an inconclusive diagnosis, and signpost you to an alternative service for further support.

No. Your assessment may explore symptoms such as anxiety and depression which may be linked to ADHD. But we cannot provide a formal diagnosis of anxiety, depression or other mental health conditions through our ADHD assessment.

The assessment fee covers the cost of your 90-minute (or more) video consultation with our ADHD clinician and diagnosis, as well as the cost of the rest of your assessment beyond this (retrospective reviewing of your consultation by the clinician, reviewing any additional info such as supporting documents or reports from employers, and recommending a treatment where applicable).

Please note that if our clinician recommends a prescription for you, you’ll need to pay for your prescriptions separately. These aren’t covered by the assessment fee.

Our ongoing care plans, which include prescriptions, start from £99 per month.

This price also includes the cost of your prescription review, follow-up appointments and aftercare from our qualified clinicians.

Before we charge you for your repeat prescription, we’ll also always ask you to confirm you still need it first – so you shouldn’t ever pay any costs that you don’t expect.

If you have additional monthly prescriptions included in your plan, the cost of your plan may be higher – but we’ll always confirm you’re happy with this cost first before processing your prescription and payment.

You’ll only pay the assessment fee when booking your assessment slot, after we've checked your suitability for an online assessment. If you take our pre-assessment and it seems like an online assessment isn't right for you, you won't pay anything.

No. If you aren't invited to make an appointment because an online assessment isn't right for you, you won't pay anything.

In some cases, yes. If you decide you don't want to go ahead with your assessment and cancel at least 48 hours before the scheduled assessment start time, you can request a refund of your assessment fee.

If your video consultation is cancelled by us, we’ll ask you to book an alternative date and time. But if a suitable alternative isn’t available, you may be able to request a refund.

Unfortunately, we can’t refund your video consultation fee after your consultation has taken place, or if you don’t attend a scheduled appointment, or fail to let us know that you can’t attend an appointment at least 48 hours beforehand.

It’s highly unlikely that you’ll be able to claim back the cost of your assessment or prescriptions through the NHS, because we’re a private healthcare provider.

You may be able to claim back the cost of an assessment if you have a private health insurance plan that covers it – but we can’t advise you on this. For more info, we recommend asking your private health insurer.

Unfortunately, prescriptions can't be returned or re-issued if the treatment is ineffective, or causes side effects. So if you start a treatment or are adjusted to a specific dose that you later find isn't suitable for you – because it causes side effects for example – we won't be able to issue a refund for that prescription.

If you encounter any issues with side effects or think that your treatment isn't working as it should, please let us know by sending us a message through your Focused account. Our clinician will review your prescription and see what changes they can make, to help you find the right option.

At present we only accept credit or debit card payments.

If your payment fails for any reason when trying to book your assessment, you’ll usually see an error message on the screen asking you to try again with a different card. In some cases, we’ll email you to let you know if there’s been a problem with your payment and you need to try again. We won’t be able to move forward with your assessment until your payment has been made.

Not at the moment. The only payments we accept are debit or credit card. These are handled by Stripe, which is a reputable secure payment gateway.

Not currently. We only accept debit or credit cards.

Yes. After our clinician has reviewed the info in your pre-assessment, they’ll invite you to book a video consultation. You’ll then get to choose an available slot from our calendar.

Here, you’ll be able to book the earliest available appointment, but you can book further in advance if you prefer. You’ve got the option to rearrange your appointment if something comes up in the meantime.

Yes, you can cancel your assessment and request a refund, if it’s more than 48 hours before your scheduled appointment start time.

If it’s less than 48 hours before your scheduled appointment start time, you won’t be able to cancel and your assessment fee won’t be refundable.

Yes. You’ve got the option to rearrange your appointment if the time you originally chose no longer works for you, as long as it’s at least 48 hours before your scheduled appointment start time. To do this, sign in to your Focused account, go to your dashboard, and on your consultations tab you’ll see an option to reschedule.

Unfortunately, for scheduling reasons, we can’t accept reschedule requests within 48 hours of your assessment start time. If you don’t attend a scheduled appointment, you won’t be eligible for a refund, and if you want to re-book in this case, you’ll have to pay the assessment fee again.

We try to keep cancellations to an absolute minimum. But, unfortunately, on some occasions our clinician may need to cancel your appointment due to unforeseen circumstances.

When this happens, you’ll be invited to rebook for a later time or date. As before, you’ll be able to choose an available slot from our calendar that suits you.

Yes, we often have assessment slots available outside of ‘regular’ office hours. You can see which times and dates we have available by checking the calendar on our homepage, or checking the calendar schedule when booking your appointment.

You may get an indication of your diagnosis towards the end of your appointment with the clinician, and what course of treatment or therapy (if any) they’re planning to recommend.

But this may not be the case for everyone. Sometimes, the clinician may need to evaluate your case further to come to a decision on a diagnosis, and let you know after your appointment has finished.

After your appointment has finished, you’ll also be able to access your consultation report in your Focused account. It takes up to 7-10 working days for this to be completed, and you’ll be able to download it when it becomes available.

You may be told during your consultation call with our clinician. But in some cases our clinician might need to do some further evaluation after your consultation has finished.

If you don’t get a decision during your call, you’ll normally be told within 1-5 working days after completing your consultation. If for some reason we expect it to take longer than this, we’ll let you know.

If you’re dissatisfied with our qualified professional’s diagnosis and want to speak to someone else, you won’t be able to get a second opinion from us. Decisions on diagnoses are reached following a comprehensive evaluation of your assessment.

The ADHD assessment report you’ll receive from Focused is detailed, and you’ll have the option to share with your employer or university.

But we can’t guarantee that your report will always be automatically accepted by these organisations as evidence, because acceptance is at their discretion. Some organisations may prefer diagnoses through NHS pathways or from specific professionals.

Our clinician will stay on the call for a while longer and, if you’re able to recover your connection, the consultation will carry on from where you left off.

If after a few minutes it looks like you won’t be coming back to the call, our clinician will usually leave the call and send you a message, asking you to let them know if you’re able to connect again within the appointment slot. If you can, just let them know and you should be able to jump back on the call with them.

If you can’t recover the call within the appointment slot for any reason, let us know as soon as possible by sending us a message or an email, and we’ll try to arrange a convenient time for the rest of your appointment to take place.

On rare occasions, a clinician may have technical issues joining the call – so we’d recommend sitting tight for a few minutes to give them a little more time to join. In the majority of cases the clinician will be able to fix these issues themselves. But if you join a call and the clinician isn't present after the appointment has started, please send us a message through your Focused account, and we'll look into the issue and keep you updated.

If you can’t remember your password, hit the forgotten password link on the login page. You should get instructions on how to reset it sent to your email. But if you’re still having trouble logging in, or you can’t remember which email address you signed up with, please contact us.

You’ll get a detailed report about your diagnosis. You’ll be able to download this from your Focused account.

If you’ve been recommended treatment, you’ll have the option to start an ongoing monthly care plan with us. This includes prescriptions for your treatment, if you choose to accept it, as well as aftercare and follow-ups with our ADHD clinician.

We’ll let you know by email if the clinician comes to the decision not to diagnose you with ADHD, and give you some guidance on what to do if you still feel like you need support.

In these cases, it’s usually a good idea to arrange an appointment with your GP so they can refer you to a specialist, who can explore your symptoms with you and other potential causes.

You may be able to, but some other private providers may specify that your diagnosis has to be made through them before they can issue treatment. For more info, please contact our customer care team.

If you accept the recommendation from our ADHD clinician for treatment, you’ll receive prescriptions on a monthly basis. But before your prescription is renewed, you may be asked to answer a few questions from the clinician to make sure your treatment is still right for you. Before generating your renewal request, we’ll also ask you to confirm that you still want to go ahead with it.

After a certain number of prescriptions has been issued, you may be invited for a follow-up video consultation with the clinician – just to check in and see how things are going. This usually happens once a year, but may change depending on your individual circumstances.

If you start a care plan with us, it's likely that the dose in your prescription will be changed at least once – but in some cases the treatment prescribed may change too.

Most people who start treatment for ADHD will do so on a low dose, and then have their dose gradually increased depending on their response. This is called titration, and helps a clinician to find the optimum dose for their patient while minimising the risk of side effects. This can take a few months, up to a year, or in some cases even longer, depending on the individual.

If the treatment you're prescribed isn't working as expected or causes significant side effects, the clinician may suggest a change – such as a different dose or an alternative treatment.

We’ll contact you during your treatment to see how it’s working for you. During the first few months, you’ll be asked to answer a couple of questions online each month, to help our clinician make sure that your new prescription is working well for you.

In some cases, we might invite you to a follow-up video consultation after 3 months with the clinician to review your medication. But most of the time, a follow-up video call will happen once you’re established on your current prescription, after around 12 months.

This appointment should only last for around 30 minutes or less, and enable you and the clinician to discuss how your treatment is working, whether there are any issues with it, and if any changes to your prescription might benefit you. At this appointment, the clinician will be able to review and renew your prescription, so you can continue to receive your treatment.

When we send you a reminder to book a follow-up appointment, it’s best to do it as early as you can. This helps us to ensure that your repeat prescriptions are with you on time.

Yes, you have the right to stop your prescriptions with us anytime. And you don’t need to call us to stop your prescriptions – you can do this from your Focused account with a few presses of a button.

But before we issue your repeat prescription, we’ll always email you asking you to confirm that you still want it. So you’ll never be prescribed treatment ‘by accident’ and you’ll always have time to cancel.

For safety reasons, we advise against stopping treatment completely because you may need to be titrated off it gradually. If you stop your prescriptions with Focused, we strongly recommend having an alternative treatment provider in place, who can supply you with a prescription for your medication, before cancelling your prescription with us.

It’s important to let our clinician know as soon as possible if your health changes in any way during your treatment. Examples of this might be:

• if you’ve been diagnosed with a new medical condition (other than ADHD)
• if you’ve started using an additional treatment
• or if you’re due to have surgery.

You can let us know about this by signing in to your Focused account and updating your medical profile. Once you’ve updated your info and saved your changes, our clinician will review anything new against your current prescription, and contact you if they need to discuss anything further.

Sometimes, our clinician may need to make adjustments to your prescription to accommodate any changes in your health.

Yes. We need to inform your GP about your diagnosis, so following your assessment, we’ll contact them to let them know that you accessed our service, and the outcome of your assessment, and send them a copy of your diagnostic report. If you start (or stop) a care plan with us, we’ll also inform them about this, along with information on any prescriptions you’ve been supplied with. It’s important that they know this information, in case it affects any of the treatment and care they offer to you going forward.

You can withdraw consent to notify your GP if your assessment hasn’t yet taken place, but your assessment won’t be able to continue if we can’t notify your GP.

Once your assessment has taken place, we are required to notify your GP for your safety about the outcome of your assessment – consent to notify them about your assessment cannot be withdrawn following your assessment.

If you have an ongoing care plan with us, we’re required to notify your GP with information about your prescription, including when it was initiated, any changes to it, or if it’s stopped. You can withdraw consent for your GP to be notified about your prescriptions, but this means that we won’t be able to continue providing them (and we would still be required to notify your GP about your prescriptions being stopped in this case).

Not at the moment, but we are working on it. You can sign up to be notified when this is available here.

You can, but they may not always accept a private diagnosis. To issue treatment, an NHS doctor may specifically request that an assessment be made via an NHS referral. We’ll keep your NHS doctor informed throughout your assessment anyway, and tell them about any treatment we recommend for you. You can read more in our Shared Care Policy.

Not currently. We can only offer assessments on a private basis.

Summary care records are kept for people who live in England and access NHS services.

Your summary care record is an electronic summary of your key medical information. It is automatically created when you register with a GP in England, and uses information recorded within the GP clinical system.

If you’re registered with an NHS GP but not in England, you’ll have an equivalent NHS medical record, but it won’t be called a summary care record – and our clinician will not be able to access this, even with your consent. In this case, we recommend that you request a copy of your medical record from your NHS GP, and upload this for us when asked to during your assessment.

You can find more information on this in our health record guide.

You’ll only have a summary care record if you’re based in England. If you’re based in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, you’ll mostly likely have a GP health record, but our clinicians won’t be able to access this remotely. If this applies to you, we recommend requesting a copy of your health record from your GP, and uploading this for us when prompted to after completing our pre-assessment questionnaire.

If you moved to the UK from abroad, have a GP in England, but aren’t sure if you have an NHS summary care record, we recommend contacting your GP to see if there’s a record of your care to date that they can provide you with.

Your assessment won’t be able to go ahead. Our clinician needs to be able to review your NHS health record to be able to carry your assessment safely.

Yes. Your health info is only viewed by our clinical team, so everything you tell us is confidential. You can read more in our privacy policy.

Because we’re a health provider, we’re required by law to hold on to some of your data for a certain period of time.

Usually, it’s at least 13 years after you last received advice from us (or 25 years if you were pregnant at the time). This is for safety reasons.

In order to provide you with a service, your information will need to be shared with members of our team, such as our clinical team, customer service team, and members of our parent company, Webcare Group, which manages the website and other operations.

Some of your info may also need to be shared with selected third parties such as regulators and your primary care GP, in order to keep you safe and provide you with good quality service.

We don’t share any information beyond what is necessary to provide you with adequate care or comply with legal or regulatory requirements. For more info on this, please see our privacy policy.

Yes, you have the option to delete your account. But we’ll still need to keep your info on file for a certain period of time. This is because, as a health provider, we have a legal obligation to retain some information in the interest of your safety.

You can read more about data we’re required to retain in our privacy policy.

To request deletion of your account, send us a message through your Focused account.

Yes.

We’ll send you two types of emails: promotional and service emails. The promotional ones, although useful, aren’t an integral component of our service, and so can be unsubscribed from any time via a link at the foot of the email.

The service emails we send contain key info and updates about your assessment, and so can’t be unsubscribed from with a single click. If you no longer want to receive these (for example because you want to delete your account with us), please contact our customer care team.