What ADHD Medication Costs in the UK

The three separate costs

People usually ask what ADHD medication costs and get a confusing answer, because three different things are being charged for and they behave differently.

1. The assessment

A diagnosis has to come before any prescription. On the NHS this is free at the point of use after a GP referral. Privately it is a one-off fee: at The ADHD Centre, £695 for an online assessment and £1,095 in person in London or Manchester.

2. Titration

Finding the right dose takes several weeks of appointments and dose changes. On the NHS this is included. Privately it is charged separately from the assessment, because the number of reviews varies. Our guide to titration explains what the period involves.

3. The ongoing prescription

Once your dose is stable you need a new prescription roughly every month for a stimulant, because controlled drugs are treated differently from ordinary medicines rather than issued as repeat prescriptions. At The ADHD Centre we issue 30 tablets at a time. Whether that is an NHS or a private cost depends entirely on whether your GP agrees shared care, which is the single biggest variable in the whole calculation.

What it costs on the NHS

Assessment, titration and review are free at the point of use. What you pay is the prescription charge, and only in England.

Prescriptions are free in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. In England a standard charge applies per item, unless you are exempt. Exemptions include being under 16, being 60 or over, being in full-time education under 19, holding a valid medical exemption certificate, and receiving certain benefits. The current charge and the full list of exemptions are published by the NHS.

One point catches people out. A month's supply at a time means twelve or thirteen prescriptions a year rather than the four or six that a repeat medicine would generate. That is a consequence of stimulants being Schedule 2 controlled drugs rather than anything specific to ADHD.

What it costs privately

A private route has a clear one-off cost and a less predictable ongoing one.

The assessment is fixed: £695 online, £1,095 in person. Titration is charged per review, and the number of reviews depends on how quickly a suitable dose is found, which varies between people and between medicines.

Ongoing private prescriptions have two components: the fee for issuing the prescription, and the cost of the medicine itself at the pharmacy.

For the licensed UK medicines, expect the medicine itself to cost somewhere between £50 and £200 a month. Where you sit in that range depends on the drug, the brand, the dose and the pharmacy, and prices change, so it is always worth asking a pharmacy for a current price for your specific product rather than relying on a figure published anywhere. Generic methylphenidate sits at the lower end; branded modified-release products and higher doses sit at the upper end.

How to plan for it

The useful question is not what one prescription costs but what a year costs, because the pattern of spending is uneven. There is a larger amount at the start, a variable period during titration, then a steadier ongoing figure.

• The assessment is one payment, known in advance
• Titration is several smaller payments across a few weeks, and the number varies
• The ongoing prescription is roughly twelve to thirteen events a year for a stimulant
• The licensed medicines themselves run about £50 to £200 a month privately
• In England, a prepayment certificate caps the NHS charge across a year
• Non-stimulants generate fewer prescription events because they can be repeats

Two things are worth asking before you commit. Ask any private provider what titration is likely to cost in total rather than per appointment, and ask your GP practice whether they would consider shared care after a private diagnosis. Those two answers determine most of the year-one figure.

It is also worth knowing that costs can change mid-treatment. A switch between medicines, a change of brand during a supply problem, or a move between areas with different NHS prescription rules will all shift the arithmetic.

How shared care changes the cost

This is the part worth understanding before you start rather than after. If your GP agrees shared care once your dose is stable, ongoing prescriptions move onto the NHS. In England you then pay the standard prescription charge, or nothing if you are exempt. In Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland you pay nothing.

If your GP declines, prescribing stays with the specialist and the ongoing cost stays private, indefinitely. That is a legitimate outcome rather than a failure, but it changes the total substantially over a year.

Shared care is voluntary and no clinic can guarantee it. The most useful thing you can do is ask your practice their position before assessment, which costs nothing and tells you what to plan for. Our shared care guide sets out what to ask and what to do if it is declined.

• Shared care agreements How prescribing moves to your GP
• How to get ADHD medication in the UK The full pathway, NHS and private
• Supply and shortages What to do if your medicine is unavailable

Common questions