Supporting you and your family

The whole assessment process can vary in duration from client to client, but typically it lasts between 2 and 4 months, from your Initial Needs Assessment all the way through to receiving your diagnostic report.

Your Initial Needs Assessment will take place within 14 days of your acceptance into the service, but typically this happens within 5 days.

Before your assessment can take place, there are several digital forms that you need to complete. The forms should be filled out by the individual seeking a diagnosis, as well as other people relevant to the assessment process. These people include an appointed individual known as an 'informant', who can provide further information to clinicians that will contribute to an assessment outcome, or in the case of children, their teacher or school representative.

There are many helpful resources to guide you through the process, including support articles and videos that explain how to complete your digital forms, who to choose as your informant, and how to navigate your assessment sessions with confidence.

The Initial Needs Assessment takes 45 minutes. This initial call is an opportunity for you to meet with a ProblemShared clinician, who will understand your needs, answer any questions you might have at this stage, and explain how the assessment process will work.

Once your Initial Needs Assessment has happened, your actual assessment can take place. This is much longer in duration. It involves the completion of several digital forms and several online sessions with a highly qualified ProblemShared assessor.

ProblemShared aim to tell you the result of your assessment within the same day. In some more complex cases, this is not possible. If this applies to you, your clinician will explain the reasoning to you, and a further follow-up call will be made to give you the outcome at another time. Occasionally we may require further information in order to provide the outcome of the assessment.

Within 4-6 weeks of your having your assessment, you will receive your full diagnostic report, which will clearly show the reasons for our decision about a diagnosis or non-diagnosis. You will also be given some recommendations for support.

If 6 weeks have passed and you have not received your report, please contact help@problemshared.net.

A GP must make the initial referral in order for you to be accepted into the Neurodevelopmental Assessments and Support service. This can be from your own NHS GP.

If you are seeking an ADHD assessment, involving your NHS GP is important if you decide to opt in to the medication service as a means of support. This is so that your GP can perform any required physical health checks prior to medication (for children and young people) and also take over prescribing your future prescriptions once your medication has stabilised - a process known as 'shared care'.

In the event that your GP refuses to accept shared care, you will be given the option to self-fund ongoing prescribing and medication costs and will be made aware of the financial implications at this stage.

Please note that the cost of outpatient drugs isn't usually paid for by an AXA Health private medical scheme. If you or your family member is referred to the medication service, you may have to pay for the prescription charges yourself.

If the Initial Needs Assessment determines that you don’t require further assessment for a neurodevelopmental condition, you will be advised by the AXA Health Clinical Support Team of the next steps on an individual basis.

It is possible for AXA Health members to complete the part of their pathway that they have already started at the point that their policy lapses, on a self-pay basis. Please note that the self-pay option is to facilitate the completion of partial pathways only. It is not possible for AXA Health members to start another part of their pathway on a self-pay basis.

If you choose not to self-pay, you can explore the Right to Choose homepage on the ProblemShared website. Here, you can learn about the process of accessing ProblemShared neurodevelopmental assessments and support through the NHS Right to Choose scheme. Please note that this would involve attaining a new referral from your GP.

This benefit is only available to those enrolled on your company's AXA Health scheme. Eligibility and enrolment onto your company's healthcare scheme will be coordinated by your employer.

ProblemShared is experienced in writing reports and making recommendations in a format that is accepted by local education authorities and NHS GPs. We cannot universally guarantee acceptance by every entity because local requirements may differ.

We are aware of low acceptance rates in Northern Ireland for all assessments, with no acceptance of young people's autism diagnoses.

However, the prescribing teams within ProblemShared's medication service will work with GPs as needed to facilitate shared care.

Furthermore, the aim of the education navigator service for children 7 to 19 years old, as well as higher education students up to the age of 22, is to provide guidance on how to engage your local school/education authority, so members will be assisted with this.

SpLD assessments, like dyslexia, are carried out by professionals with Assessment Practising Certificates, which means they are accepted by a wide range of institutions, including universities and professional bodies.

We would suggest you don’t cancel your NHS arrangements until you have spoken to AXA Health or ProblemShared.