ADHD in Scotland

STAND’s ADHD workstream focuses on ensuring that children and families affected by ADHD can access the medication and healthcare they need, regardless of whether their diagnosis was made privately or through the NHS.

Our aim is to make sure that every child with ADHD receives the same respect, understanding, and access to treatment as any other child in Scotland.

Lead Empowerment Champion - Adelle Bradley (Prestwick)

Adelle is one of our Ayrshire-based Empowerment Champions and leads STAND’s workstream on access to ADHD medication following private diagnosis. It was Adelle who first brought this issue to STAND’s attention after experiencing the barriers herself, and it makes sense that she is the one determined to see it through.

She is a devoted single mum of five children, one of whom was born asleep, and, like all mums do, she continues to fight for her children every day. But her fight is particularly hard. Her eldest son battled cancer throughout his entire childhood, and Adelle herself is now recovering from cancer surgery.

When her younger son began struggling at school, she knew he needed help, but without a formal diagnosis, she faced endless barriers. She applied for Child Disability Payment without a diagnosis and had to take the case all the way to tribunal before finally winning.

In addition to the efforts she has to put in to fight for her own children, she continues to volunteer with STAND and share her story, determined to make sure that no other child with ADHD in Scotland is left untreated or forgotten.

What is the issue?

Across Scotland, some GP practices are refusing to prescribe ADHD medication simply because the diagnosis was made, and medication initiated and titrated, by a private provider.

This is leaving many children (and adults, although that is not the focus of this workstream) without treatment or facing unaffordable costs.

What's the plan?

STAND is gathering evidence and supporting families to challenge these blanket policies and promote fair, lawful, and compassionate care.

We are liaising with the Scottish Government and we are awaiting a response from the Cabinet Secretary for Health.

We have made several FOI requests, including ot the Scottish Government and individual GP practices. We are awaiting responses for some, and analysing the responses of others.

We are preparing letters to the Royal College of GPs regarding statements they made to the Scottish Parliament during its Inquiry into Pathways for Assessment and Support for Autism and ADHD.

We included detail of our concerns about this issue in our written responses to the Inquiry (more detail here).

We raised it when giving evidence in person to the Inquiry on 30 September 2025. Here is a clip from when Dani mentioned it.

The full video of the Inquiry session can be found here.

ADHD Inquiry Clip.mp4

How can you help?

You can share information with us about your experiences with private ADHD diagnosis and medication.
You can give us feedback on your experiences with particular private providers.
You can alert us to unfair or discriminatory policies or decisions by individual GP practices in respect of private ADHD diagnosis.
You can offer to volunteer with us to help out with the Empowerment Champion Project.
You can contact your local MSP and copy us to the correspondence so we can start piecing together the bigger picture across Scotland and identify the impact of the postcode lottery for access to ADHD medication. If you wish to do this, please copy empowerment@standuk.co.uk into the correspondence. If you do this, please ensure you have read our Privacy Policy.

How can we help you?

We can share information about our ongoing correspondence with the Scottish Government, NHS boards and other bodies.
We can share information about FOI requests that we have received.
We can provide support to help empower you to challenge decisions which are unfair on your child.

Our Goals

Find out if GP policies are fair and legal.

Some GP practices refuse to prescribe ADHD medication after a private diagnosis. We’re checking whether that’s lawful, ethical, or in line with medical guidance, particularly when other GP practices are willing to do it.

Make sure patient rights are protected.

Everyone deserves decisions that are made in their best interests - not blanket refusals that ignore individual circumstances.

Clarify what GP contracts allow.

We’re asking whether the Scottish GP contract includes shared care with private providers, for ADHD and other conditions.

Help families understand their rights.

We’ll share information on how to raise concerns or report GP practices that don’t follow data protection or freedom of information rules.

Encourage fairer practice.

We’re urging GP surgeries to look at each case individually, instead of applying blanket policies.

Challenge discrimination.

GP practices should not refuse treatment for people with ADHD as a way to manage workload or funding pressures.

Raise awareness with government.

We’re making sure ministers and officials understand what’s happening in surgeries across Scotland and how it affects families.

Ask for clear national guidance.

We want the Scottish Government and health boards to publicly confirm that GPs must use their clinical judgement fairly and in line with the law, including equality and patient rights, and to be clear that blanket policies do not comply with the requirement to exercise clinical judgement.

Contact Us

Please email us at empowerment@standuk.co.uk if you would like to get in touch about the Private ADHD Diagnosis & Shared Care Workstream, or any other aspect of the Empowerment Champion Project.

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