How to prepare for your assessment

Summary: Before we can book your assessment, you'll need to get set up in our patient portal, complete your pre-assessment questionnaires and send us your Summary Care Record. Some of the questionnaires will need to be completed by people who know you well. The sooner you can do this, the sooner you can begin your assessment.

• What to do before your assessment

• Step one: Get set up on our patient portal 

• Step two: Complete your pre-assessment questionnaires 

• Questionnaires for you

• Questionnaires for family, friends or childhood guardians 

• What happens next 

Thanks for choosing us for your upcoming assessment. We’re here to make sure it goes as smoothly as possible and support you along the way. 

Once you've registered for an assessment (privately or via NHS Right to Choose), there’s a couple of things you’ll need to do before we can book you in: 

1. Step one: Get set up in our patient portal

2. Step two: Complete your pre-assessment questionnaires 

The sooner you can complete these, the sooner we can book your appointment. To find out more, see our articles on what to expect during your assessment and current waiting times. 

Once we've processed your referral or your payment for a private assessment, you'll receive a welcome message inviting you to our patient portal. It'll arrive by email or SMS (from 07860 039092). 

• Click the link in your invitation and log in to the portal. 

• Open the Welcome to Care ADHD form and follow the instructions. 

You don't need to let us know when you've completed your tasks in the portal. We're automatically notified once everything is complete and will move you to the next step.

You’ll then need to complete your pre-assessment questionnaires within the portal. These include internationally recognised questionnaires and rating scales, plus some forms about your physical and mental health. 

We know this is quite a bit of paperwork upfront. Completing these forms carefully helps our assessors make an accurate diagnosis – and saves time later.  

• Adult ADHD Self Report Scale (ASRS)
  A screening tool to assess whether you meet the criteria for a full ADHD assessment

• Weiss Functioning Impairment Rating Scale (WFIRS)
  Evaluates how ADHD-related difficulties affect your day-to-day functioning across different areas of life

• Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9)
  Screens for depression 

• General Anxiety Disorder 7 (GAD-7)
  Screens for anxiety

• Diagnostic Interview for ADHD in Adults (DIVA-5)
  A structured diagnostic interview covering ADHD symptoms in childhood and adulthood

• Physical Health Questionnaire
  Screens for physical health conditions that may be relevant to your assessment or treatment 

As part of your assessment, we’ll also need to gather information from family, friends, childhood guardians or anyone else who can help inform the clinical picture: 

• Childhood Questionnaire
  Gathers information about your symptoms and behaviour as a child, completed by someone who knew you well at around age 7.

• If you can't find someone to complete the childhood questionnaire 
  We need to see symptoms before the age of 7 to make an ADHD diagnosis. We can sometimes use old school reports when patients don’t have someone to complete the childhood questionnaire. If this applies to you, please upload these reports in our patient portal. 

• Wender Utah rating scale
  We’ll also ask you to complete a self-assessment about yourself as a child.

• Adult Questionnaire
  Gathers information about your current symptoms, completed by someone who knows you well as an adult. This could be a close family member, friend, or colleague. 

We'll still assess you if this is the case, but we might not be able to confirm or rule out a diagnosis if the evidence from other sources isn't strong enough.  

In rare cases, we may not have access to your Summary Care Record (SCR). This is an electronic record of your essential medical information, which is kept by your GP. We need your SCR for two reasons: 

• For your assessment 
  Our clinicians need your SCR so they can rule out other conditions that may be causing your symptoms. Without this, a diagnosis may not be possible. 

• For medication and treatment 
  If you're diagnosed and would like to start medication, we can't prescribe without your SCR. We need your full medical history to make sure the medication is safe for you.  
  
  You can use this email template to request your SCR from your GP: 

Hi [GP Practice Reception Team], 

I hope you're well. 

I'd like to request a copy of my Summary Care Record (SCR). Please let me know the best way to receive it. Ideally, if you could email me a copy that would be great. 

Many thanks, 

[Your name] 

You have a legal right to request your SCR from your GP under data protection laws – this is called a subject access request. Most GPs provide this within a day or two, though legally they have up to one calendar month to respond. 

We can't accept screenshots of medical information from the NHS app. You’ll need to get your SCR directly from your GP surgery. 

Once you've completed your questionnaires and we have your Summary Care Record, we'll be in touch to book your assessment appointment. Assessments take place online via a secure video call – no need to travel anywhere. 

For full details on what to expect on the day, take a look at our article on your assessment appointment. 

How long will I wait for my assessment once everything’s submitted? 
For up-to-date waiting time information, please see our article on waiting times. 

I received a text from an unknown number – is it from you? 
Invitations to our patient portal are sent by SMS from 07860 039092. If you've received a text from this number, it's from us. 

Who should I ask to complete my adult and childhood questionnaires? 
Anyone who knows you well – they don't need to be a family member. For the childhood questionnaire, it should be someone who knew you at around age 7. For the adult questionnaire, it can be a friend, partner, colleague, or carer. 

My form timed out – what should I do? 
Each page of a questionnaire has a 30-minute time limit. We'd recommend drafting longer answers separately and pasting them in. You can also save your progress as you go along. Free text fields in the DIVA-5 form have a 500-character limit. 

I can't access my forms in the portal. What should I do? 
If you're a patient of more than one healthcare provider, the portal may prompt you to select which provider's records you'd like to access. If this doesn't happen, try logging out and back in again. If that doesn't work, try clearing your browser's cookies and cache, or clicking "Sign in with another provider" on the login page. If you're still having trouble, contact DrDoctor directly at support@drdoctor.co.uk or visit their help centre.