Do I need to share my report with my GP?
There is no legal requirement to share your diagnostic report with your GP. Your report is your document, and you decide who sees it. However, there are practical reasons why sharing it is usually the sensible next step for most people.
First, if you want to access NHS prescribing for ADHD medication, your GP is the gateway: they cannot initiate or support a shared care arrangement without knowing about the diagnosis. Second, having your diagnosis on your GP record means that any future clinician you see has an accurate picture of your health history. Third, your GP is likely to be the person you turn to for any ongoing health concerns, and having relevant context makes those conversations more useful.
If you choose not to share your report with your GP, that is entirely your right, and your report remains valid and usable for other purposes such as workplace adjustments, DSA applications, and DVLA disclosure without any GP involvement.
The GP letter in your report
Your Distinct diagnostic report includes a letter addressed specifically to your GP. This letter summarises the outcome of the assessment, the diagnostic findings, and the clinical recommendations, including whether medication is appropriate to consider and whether any further referrals are recommended.
The GP letter is written to be immediately useful for a GP reading it: it provides the relevant clinical information concisely, without requiring the GP to read the full report to understand the key points. In practice, you can share either the full report or the GP letter depending on what is most appropriate, and your GP may request the full report if they want more detail.
What to expect from the GP appointment
The most practical approach is to request a dedicated appointment specifically to discuss your ADHD diagnosis, rather than raising it at the end of an appointment for something else. This gives you and your GP adequate time to go through the findings, discuss medication, and plan next steps.
Bring a copy of your report and GP letter to the appointment. Most GPs are familiar with the process of receiving a private psychiatric report and will know broadly what to do with it, though some may need more time to consider the recommendations than others. The conversation will typically cover whether the GP is willing to take on shared care prescribing, what monitoring is required, and what the practical next steps are.
If your GP has questions about the assessment or the diagnosis, they can contact Distinct directly. Being prepared for a conversation rather than expecting an immediate decision or prescription is helpful: the GP needs to review the report and satisfy themselves of the clinical picture before taking action, and this is appropriate clinical practice.
"A report from a GMC-registered consultant psychiatrist gives your GP everything they need to engage with your diagnosis. The conversation is usually more straightforward than people expect."
Shared care prescribing
Shared care is the arrangement by which an NHS GP prescribes and monitors medication that was initiated by a private specialist. It is how most people who receive a private ADHD diagnosis access NHS medication. Under a shared care arrangement, the specialist (in this case, Distinct) initiates the diagnosis and recommends medication, and the GP takes on the ongoing prescribing and monitoring role.
Whether a GP practice is willing to enter into a shared care arrangement for ADHD varies. NHS England has guidance that GPs should not normally refuse to take on prescribing following a diagnosis from a qualified specialist, but in practice many practices do decline, citing a lack of specialist support or unfamiliarity with ADHD prescribing. This is one of the more frustrating aspects of the private diagnosis pathway.
If your GP is willing to engage but needs guidance on the shared care process, the local Integrated Care Board (ICB) typically has a shared care prescribing protocol for ADHD that they can refer to. ADHD UK and other advocacy organisations provide resources to support GPs who are unfamiliar with the process.
If your GP declines to engage
If your GP declines to accept a private ADHD diagnosis or to engage in shared care prescribing, there are several options available to you.
You can request a formal written reason for the refusal, which puts the practice on record and may prompt reconsideration. You can raise the matter with the practice manager or, if necessary, with NHS England or the local ICB through their complaints process. You can ask your GP to refer you to a local NHS ADHD service (where one exists) for a second opinion, which would then involve the NHS in your care.
You can also change GP practice. You are entitled to register with any GP practice that is accepting new patients, and practices vary significantly in their willingness to engage with private specialist recommendations. Some people find that moving to a different practice resolves the issue straightforwardly.
If NHS prescribing proves genuinely inaccessible, private prescribing is available through specialist clinicians. This involves an ongoing cost for medication and monitoring that does not apply under shared care, but it does provide access to appropriate treatment where the NHS route is blocked.
Ready for a diagnosis your GP will trust?
A Distinct report is produced by a GMC-registered consultant psychiatrist. No GP referral needed to book.
Right to Choose
If you are on the NHS waiting list for an ADHD assessment and have not yet been seen, you may be eligible to exercise your Right to Choose: a statutory right to ask your GP to refer you to any CQC-registered provider that offers the relevant NHS service, rather than waiting for your local service.
Right to Choose is separate from the private diagnosis pathway, and a GP cannot use the availability of Right to Choose as a reason to refuse to engage with a private diagnosis you have already received. For more detail on Right to Choose and how it works, see our guide to Right to Choose for ADHD assessment.
What your Distinct report gives your GP
A Distinct report is prepared by a GMC-registered consultant psychiatrist and follows the clinical standards your GP would expect from a specialist referral. It contains the formal diagnosis, the diagnostic criteria and tools used, the symptom and impact history, differential diagnostic considerations, and specific recommendations for next steps. The accompanying GP letter presents this information concisely in a format designed for the GP context. A report from a consultant psychiatrist carries considerably more clinical authority than one produced by a less senior clinician, and this matters when you need your GP to act on it.
This article has been reviewed for clinical accuracy by Distinct's clinical governance team, led by a consultant psychiatrist and senior NHS clinical leader with over two decades of specialist experience.