Harley Psychiatrists - ADHD and Autism Clinic

Harley Psychiatrists is a private psychiatric practice offering ADHD and autism assessments, alongside diagnostic and treatment support for anxiety, panic, stress, OCD, bipolar disorder and borderline personality disorder. Originally based on London’s Harley Street, the practice now delivers consultations remotely by video call across the UK, so location is no longer a barrier for people seeking a formal diagnosis outside the NHS waiting list. The service is aimed at both adults and children, and no GP referral is required to book an initial appointment — patients can arrange assessments directly.

The clinical team is built around GMC-registered Consultant Psychiatrists, several of whom hold formal standing with the Royal College of Psychiatrists — including a Fellow and a Specialist Associate — and the practice describes its clinicians as NHS-trained with decades of NHS experience. For adult ADHD assessments specifically, the process is structured across four stages totalling around three hours: remote questionnaires completed in advance, a one-hour session with a specialist clinician (an Associate Specialist in Psychiatry or a psychologist) using the DIVA-5 interview — described on the site as the gold-standard tool for adult ADHD assessment — followed by a one-hour diagnostic appointment with a Consultant Psychiatrist, and a further hour with a psychologist to discuss therapy options. Assessment is anchored to DSM-5 diagnostic criteria and NICE guidance, and where relevant, childhood history is gathered through remote rating scales completed by family members, reflecting the standard practice of establishing a developmental history rather than relying on adult presentation alone. The formal diagnosis is always given by the Consultant Psychiatrist rather than a more junior clinician, and where a diagnosis isn’t confirmed, the site states that the psychiatrist will instead offer practical guidance on next steps rather than leaving the patient without direction.

Autism assessment is described in less procedural detail but follows a comparable philosophy — the practice states it aims to make evaluations bespoke to the individual rather than applying a single standard template, taking into account physical health, family history, the practical impact of symptoms, and overlapping conditions such as anxiety or low mood. Notably, the site is explicit that an autism cure doesn’t exist, and frames post-diagnosis support around lessening the impact of associated difficulties rather than around eliminating or normalising autistic traits — a framing that sits more comfortably within a neurodivergence-aware paradigm than the deficit-and-cure language sometimes seen in private diagnostic services. This one point aside, the practice’s public-facing material is largely clinical and procedural rather than identity-affirming in tone, which is consistent with its positioning as a psychiatric assessment and treatment service rather than a therapeutic or coaching provider.

Once a diagnosis is reached, Harley Psychiatrists offers tailored treatment planning, which for ADHD may include medication management, and the practice offers Shared Care Agreements with patients’ GPs at no additional cost, subject to the GP’s acceptance — a mechanism that allows prescribing and monitoring to eventually transfer back into NHS primary care once titration is stable, which is a practical consideration for anyone weighing up the ongoing cost of private psychiatric follow-up. Beyond medication, the practice also offers referral into psychotherapy and counselling, including CBT, for patients whose needs extend beyond diagnosis and prescribing.

Overall, this is a psychiatry-led, diagnosis-and-medication-focused service rather than a broader neurodivergent support hub — its distinguishing features are the seniority of its diagnosing clinicians, its explicit anchoring to DIVA-5, DSM-5 and NICE frameworks for ADHD, and its Shared Care arrangement with GPs, which is relevant to anyone considering the long-term cost and continuity of a private ADHD or autism diagnosis.