A reporter posing as a potential ADHD sufferer was diagnosed with the condition and prescribed powerful drugs after online consultations with three private clinics, even though an NHS consultant psychiatrist had established the reporter didn’t have ADHD and the drugs weren’t needed. The investigation for a Panorama programme broadcast tonight focused on clinics to which the NHS is outsourcing diagnostic work at hundreds of pounds per hour in order to cut waiting lists. ADHD is considered underdiagnosed overall, but when the reporter was given a standard assessment by the NHS consultant he satisfied none of the 18 conditions for a positive diagnosis. In a much shorter online meeting with Harley Psychiatrists, he was said to have satisfied 15 of them and was diagnosed “for life”.
