Hi,
just wondering if anyone has received a diagnosis through the private medical route?
Hi,
just wondering if anyone has received a diagnosis through the private medical route?
You are paying for the assessment, rather than the diagnosis. The clinicians usually also do NHS work and they are licensed by the appropriate professional medical bodies and have to adhere to their standards. The fact that the patient rather than the government is paying should have no bearing on their medical opinion.
I keep considering it, to be honest the cost isn’t that much of an issue but I’m pretty conscious that if I paid a private provider for a diagnosis they would most likely provide one and that wouldn’t be as useful.
There's no way you should be waiting any time at all for private - that's the whole point of paying!
Wow that's a lengthy response time for private! I imagine that would be due to doing both private and NHS assessments. Still for that money I would want a quick response.
When I contacted the Lorna Wing previously they were by far the most expensive, I seem to recall close to £2000, and their waiting list is huge. I think at the time they were saying 12-18months! For £2000 I want 12-18 days!!!
Thank you. That's useful.
Has anyone used the Lorna Wing Centre and had NHS funding. Apparently, they do NHS cases.
I've submitted all my triage paper work - took me 6 days to round up all the stuff.
Meanwhile, I approached my GP, who had me fill in the AQ10 and referred to local services.
I'm confused now. Not sure whether that means the NHS will assess, but not through Lorna Wing, or whether I should proceed privately with them anyway.
...I might post this a new question, actually.
I got diagnosed privately when I was at Uni. £50 from me and my family and the Uni covered the other £50. Would have been an 18 month waiting list on NHS. Only downside is that the NHS don’t recognise my autism diagnosis and refused all support for me unless I consent to a second diagnostic assessment which could result in my autism diagnosis being taken away from me!
i simply waited the 2 years
It cost me £1300, I felt like the NHS would do anything to make it difficult to access the diagnostic care route.
it may of been expensive, but not knowing is likely to cost more in terms of personal stress and suffering without knowledge of what is best to help you.
S'OK, found a source. Many thanks.
Did that enable you to 'jump the queue'?
I replied to this before, but now I can’t see my response. If it comes up twice, I apologise.
I was recently diagnosed by a private company, paid for by the NHS, under Patient Choice or Right to Choose. It seems to be called different things.
I'm newly on the NHS waiting list and have been told it could be 2 years before I'm assessed. Thinking of the private route but most sites I've looked at dont quote prices, those that do indicate £1,500+.
I'm in the North East and in receipt of sickness UC, any suggestions?
I had mine done privately because my company healthcare covered it - no idea how much it cost. From enquiry to diagnosis was only a few weeks.
The diagnosis took the form of a casual chat for a couple of hours - looking back, the guy was going through all the typical questions in the form of a conversation. (he was *the* top guy who wrote most of the books). My report mentions "Clearly has Asperger's" quite a few times. I'm very much like Mr Data from STNG.
If you're thinking of that route, make sure any report they provide is accepted by DWP and NHS - that will open the door to any support available in your area (which is normally pretty much zero for adults).
I did, fortunately work pitched in for it along with three follow-up sessions with a psychologist although I'm paying for any additional ones.
It was pricey and I'm thankful someone cared enough to fight my corner. Had work not supported me, I may well have gone down the private route eventually - after stomaching the thought of shelling out the cost. After years of treatment for anxiety/depression and various meltdowns nothing was really moving for me so it was getting to crunch time.
I found my own provider and they all had solid (verifiable) credentials with experience in the NHS and various roles in researching / supporting people with autism.
The diagnosis really has made a difference (easier to see on this side of things though).
Yes, twice! Once as self-discovery, and the second from a very experienced diagnostician. I don't know if you are in the UK, but if you are you might find the following: Many of the people who do private diagnosis are also contractors to the NHS. So you aren't necessarily getting something that differs greatly from the public route. They might actually be wearing both a public and a private hat on the same day. It might be a bit quicker, but the queues for experienced UK private diagnosticians are often also counted in months. The fees can be quite steep, but in my case were quite competitive. I had to go private because as an expat I am no longer eligible for the NHS. And nothing was possible (public or private) where I now live. (But that's another story!) Also bear in mind that a self-discovery of ASD is perhaps enough in itself for some people; especially if you do have some history of adaptation. I do not regret the path I took, but self-discovery without formal recognition can be quite a positive thing for some. And as Aidie says, there are loads of us here who have gone private. Spend some time looking online for diagnosticians who seem to inspire some confidence. Take your time! Perhaps someone here will PM you with some possible options.
