Eligibility

The eligibility and screening criteria for ADHD at the Sheffield Adult Autism and Neurodevelopmental Service (SAANS) is applicable to:

• All adults irrespective of gender, age (18 years of age or over), ethnicity, sexuality, culture or physical abilities
• Individuals aged 18+ years of age
• Adult individuals referred for an ADHD diagnostic assessment
• Adults with diagnosed ADHD or referred for an ADHD diagnostic assessment
• No diagnosis of a learning disability/intellectual disability (intellectual developmental disorder)/global developmental delay
• Individuals with a BMI above 15 – meaning the person is not severely underweight and subject to the effects of starvation (which would affect the validity of our assessment), to your knowledge
• No current diagnosis of dementia - and is not going through the diagnostic process for dementia
• No current diagnosis of acquired brain injury or not having resultant significant memory disturbance or amnesia
• No current alcohol misuse problems or substance misuse problems
• Person has given informed consent to the referral
• Referral has been completed by a GP or other health professional (we are unable to accept self-referrals)
   
• We are unable to expedite referrals under any circumstances, for any clinical or non-clinical reasons due to significantly high demand on our service. In the event of deterioration in an individual’s mental health or risks whilst waiting for an assessment/appointment, we would recommend they contact their local mental health crisis service or are referred to their local mental health service for further assessment and risks management
• We are unable to accept referrals for assessments to revoke a diagnosis of ADHD, or to complete a second-opinion assessment

Referral process

• Referrals are accepted from both primary and secondary care teams for people over the age of 18 who do not have a learning disability

Geographical population covered

• People registered with a GP in Sheffield

Information for referrers

You can refer a patient for an assessment for an ADHD diagnosis or for a re-assessment of ADHD needs if they already have a diagnosis and need support with ADHD medication management i.e., changing to alternative ADHD medication or need further titration of current ADHD medication.

The following information about ADHD may be helpful to consider when deciding if a referral to the ADHD team at SAANS is appropriate.

ADHD is a neurodevelopmental condition which affects individuals in the following areas:

A. Inattention and concentration problems
B. Hyperactivity symptoms
C. Impulsivity symptoms
D. All the three symptoms occurring together as combined

Further information

1. Symptoms must have had their onset in the early developmental period prior to the age of 12 in childhood and should have persisted throughout life to adulthood as it is a neurodevelopmental disorder
2. Symptoms should be pervasive, and should have caused clinically significant impairment with at least moderate or severe impairment in two or more important domains of their life i.e., social, familial, educational, occupational and/or other important areas of their current functioning
3. These difficulties must also not be better explained by a learning disability/intellectual disability (intellectual developmental disorder)/global developmental delay/acquired brain injury, or mental health problems or other neurodevelopmental conditions
4. Possibility of an untreated mood disorder or other mental health diagnosis - if the symptoms described by the patient could indicate another mental health issue/condition which they have not been assessed or treated for, the NICE Guidelines recommend that this is investigated prior to assessing or treating for ADHD. A referral to local mental health services via the Primary Care Mental Health Team (PCMHT) or Community Mental Health Team (CMHT) would be recommended in these cases
5. Current misuse of alcohol or substances - if the patient is currently using significant amount of substances or alcohol on a regular basis we would be unable to accurately do a diagnostic assessment for ADHD and subsequent to ADHD diagnosis (or if the patient is already diagnosed with ADHD), we would be unable to commence medication. We would recommend a referral to local addiction/substance misuse services, as the NICE Guidelines recommend that this is investigated and treated first prior to assessing or treating for ADHD
6. To meet the diagnostic criteria for ADHD, the above difficulties must be evident from early childhood and cause a significant impact on the person’s ability to function day-to-day in two or more domains of their lives