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For employers, HR and occupational health

An employee has raised ADHD or autism. Decide the next step — and record it.

You are probably not a clinician, and every step costs money. This page gives you the facts to choose the cheapest defensible next step, the official free screening tools, the real local NHS position, the employer-funded options with published waits and prices, and a dated record for the file. Nothing you enter is sent to us or stored.

Nothing you enter here is sent to us or stored. The record is generated in your browser. We count that the tool was used — nothing more.

Step 1 — What has been raised?

Used only for an anonymous count of how the tool is used.

What the law expects

Take it seriously in writing. Offer adjustments now if they are reasonable — no diagnosis is needed. Decide, with the employee, whether a needs assessment or a clinical assessment adds anything.

Step 2 — Screening: what it can and cannot tell you

A screening questionnaire is not a diagnosis. It changes the odds. How much it changes them depends on how likely ADHD or autism was before the questionnaire — and in a group of employees who have raised it themselves, that starting likelihood is far higher than in the general public.

  • ASRS-5 — WHO Adult ADHD Self-Report Screening Scale for DSM-5 (6 items, cut-off 14)

    Free to use; copyright World Health Organization. Download the ASRS-5

  • AQ-10 — Autism Spectrum Quotient (10 items, cut-off 6)

    Free for clinicians and research; copyright Autism Research Centre, University of Cambridge — download from them, not from us. Download the AQ-10

  • DIVA-5

    Not a workplace screener — it is the structured interview a clinician uses at assessment. Published by the DIVA Foundation.

30%

In the general population about 2–3% of adults have ADHD; among people who have asked for help it is far higher. Move the slider to see how much a positive or negative result should change your view.

ASRS-5 (adult ADHD), score 14 or more

If the questionnaire is positive, about 91 in 100 people like this have the condition. If it is negative, about 96 in 100 do not.

Sensitivity 91%, specificity 96% (Ustun et al., JAMA Psychiatry, 2017).

AQ-10 (adult autism), score 6 or more

If the questionnaire is positive, about 81 in 100 people like this have the condition. If it is negative, about 95 in 100 do not.

Sensitivity 88%, specificity 91% (Allison et al., JAACAP, 2012).

In an adult autism clinic the AQ-10 performed much worse (specificity 0.29; Ashwood et al., Psychological Medicine 2016) — anxiety can push scores up, and many autistic adults score below the cut-off.

A positive screen is a reason to look further, not a finding.

Step 3 — The routes, with real numbers

Adjustments now

Cost: your time. Time: this week. Liability: strong, if recorded. No assessment is needed for reasonable adjustments.

Workplace needs assessment

Cost: hundreds of pounds per case (public contracts imply roughly £400 per employee; the Scottish Government's 2024 contract covers up to 1,500 potentially eligible staff for £600,000). Time: public contracts require the report within 21 working days. Liability: strong — it is the standard OH product and needs no diagnosis.

NHS assessment (Right to Choose, England)

Cost to the employer: nothing. Time: depends on the employee's ICB — from weeks to, in some areas, a two-year minimum. NHS West Yorkshire, for example, has set a minimum wait of two years for patients under independent providers. Liability: neutral — the referral is the employee's, via their GP.

See the Right to Choose guideBuild the GP shortlist

Employer-funded assessment

Cost: the published assessment fee, paid per case. Time: the provider's current published wait. Liability: strong, and fastest — but check who prescribes afterwards. Shortlist providers below.

The median published adult assessment fee across our directory is on the wait-time dashboard.

  • ADHD Certify

    Current wait:
    1 weeks
    Adult assessment fee:
    £495
    Prescribing:
    Adults and children
    NHS shared care:
    Sometimes

  • AuDHD Psychiatry

    Current wait:
    1 weeks
    Adult assessment fee:
    £895
    Prescribing:
    Adults and children
    NHS shared care:
    Yes

  • HealthHarmonie Minds

    Current wait:
    1 weeks
    Adult assessment fee:
    £795
    Prescribing:
    Adults
    NHS shared care:
    Sometimes

  • Mentalwell

    Current wait:
    1 weeks
    Adult assessment fee:
    £590
    Prescribing:
    Adults and children
    NHS shared care:
    Yes

  • The ADHD Centre

    Current wait:
    1 weeks
    Adult assessment fee:
    £695
    Prescribing:
    Adults and children
    NHS shared care:
    Yes

  • Harley Therapy

    Current wait:
    3 weeks
    Adult assessment fee:
    £1,350
    Prescribing:
    Adults
    NHS shared care:
    No

  • Clinical Partners

    Current wait:
    4 weeks
    Adult assessment fee:
    £1,495
    Prescribing:
    Adults and children
    NHS shared care:
    Sometimes

  • Jacobs Clinic

    Current wait:
    4 weeks
    Adult assessment fee:
    £850
    Prescribing:
    Adults and children
    NHS shared care:
    Yes

  • Smart TMS

    Current wait:
    4 weeks
    Adult assessment fee:
    £950
    Prescribing:
    Adults
    NHS shared care:
    Sometimes

  • Medical Specialists

    Current wait:
    5 weeks
    Adult assessment fee:
    £750
    Prescribing:
    Adults
    NHS shared care:
    Yes

  • The Priory

    Current wait:
    5 weeks
    Adult assessment fee:
    £1,750
    Prescribing:
    Adults and children
    NHS shared care:
    Sometimes

  • ThinkAhead Clinic

    Current wait:
    5 weeks
    Adult assessment fee:
    £795
    Prescribing:
    Adults and children
    NHS shared care:
    Yes

  • ADHD 360

    Current wait:
    6 weeks
    Adult assessment fee:
    £695
    Prescribing:
    Adults and children
    NHS shared care:
    Yes

  • Northern Mind Health

    Current wait:
    6 weeks
    Adult assessment fee:
    £880
    Prescribing:
    Adults and children
    NHS shared care:
    Yes

  • Psicon

    Current wait:
    6 weeks
    Adult assessment fee:
    £1,295
    Prescribing:
    Adults and children
    NHS shared care:
    Sometimes

  • ADHD Direct

    Current wait:
    8 weeks
    Adult assessment fee:
    £595
    Prescribing:
    Adults
    NHS shared care:
    Yes

  • Psychiatry-UK

    Current wait:
    12 weeks
    Adult assessment fee:
    £1,195
    Prescribing:
    Adults and children
    NHS shared care:
    Yes

  • HG Mindworks

    Current wait:
    Wait not published — confirm with provider
    Adult assessment fee:
    £700
    Prescribing:
    Adults and children
    NHS shared care:
    Sometimes

Ask the provider two things before you fund it: will the report be accepted by the employee's GP for shared care, and who prescribes and monitors afterwards? A diagnosis the NHS will not recognise leaves the employee without treatment and the employer with the same duty. How NHS shared care works.

Access to Work

The employee can apply themselves to the DWP Access to Work scheme for a workplace assessment and support; it is not the employer's spend. gov.uk/access-to-work

Step 4 — The record

Built in your browser. Nothing here is transmitted or stored.

Steps taken

For the employee: give the employee these two pages. NHS Right to Choose and How to choose a provider.