ADHD and autism assessment in Inverness

The shortest reported adult ADHD wait of any Scottish health board sits behind referral criteria that currently accept only the most severe cases

Reviewed by ADHD Scot,

The Highland picture

Assessment for people in Inverness comes under NHS Highland, which covers the Highland Council area and Argyll and Bute: around 320,000 people spread across 42% of Scotland's landmass, the largest area served by any Scottish health board. Services are concentrated in Inverness, so distance is a practical barrier for many people the board serves.

In our FOI data, Highland stands out for two reasons that pull in opposite directions. Its reported adult ADHD median wait of 38 weeks, with 433 adults waiting, is the shortest given by any Scottish board (FOI ref 29528, 27 July 2026). But the front door is narrow. The board's published adult ADHD guidance states that its community mental health teams are "currently only able to accept referrals for those meeting the threshold statements for Level 4", the most severe category in the national framework, and adults below that threshold are signposted to self-help rather than assessment. A shorter queue partly reflects who is allowed to join it.

Two further caveats on the figures. NHS Highland says it cannot tell from its records whether a person's first appointment was screening, triage, or a full assessment, so treat 38 weeks as indicative. And the adult autism picture is very different: a median of 127 weeks, with 443 adults waiting, covered in our autism guide for Inverness. Full board-by-board figures are on our NHS waiting times page, and the FOI responses themselves are in our FOI tracker.

What the adult referral criteria say

NHS Highland publishes its adult ADHD referral criteria in its clinical guidelines, which are worth reading before you see your GP. In brief, the community mental health team accepts referrals only where there is a mental disorder of significant clinical severity or complexity, with significant risk or functional impairment, plus evidence of ADHD symptoms in two or more settings with onset before age 12, and either diagnostic uncertainty or comorbid conditions that raise safety concerns around prescribing. The same guidance covers people already diagnosed in NHS services elsewhere, and private diagnoses that meet its documentation standards. Our NHS Highland page walks through the whole pathway.

Talking to your GP

A referral still starts with your GP, and preparation helps:

  • Give concrete everyday examples of your symptoms rather than general statements
  • Explain that symptoms have been present since childhood, even if nobody recognised them at the time
  • Read the board's published criteria first, so you know what the referral needs to show
  • If you do not meet the threshold, ask what support is available and ask for the outcome to be recorded in your notes

Our ADHD self-screener can help you organise your thoughts beforehand, though note that NHS Highland's guidance states self-report questionnaires are not required for referral and will not be used. If your GP is reluctant to refer at all, you are entitled to ask why and to seek a second opinion from another GP in the same practice.

Children and young people go through NDAS, not CAMHS

In the Highland Council area, children are not referred to CAMHS for ADHD or autism assessment. Instead, requests go to the Neurodevelopmental Assessment Service (NDAS), run jointly by Highland Council and NHS Highland and delivered by the Pines Highland Neurodevelopmental Service in Inverness. Families are asked to start with the child's health visitor or school rather than the GP; a request to NDAS is made once the child reaches level 3 of the staged support approach. The service can be contacted directly (nhsh.nds@nhs.scot, 01463 720057).

The list is long. Highland Council reported in March 2026 that more than 2,000 children and young people were waiting for an NDAS assessment, and approved a £1.2 million programme to reduce the backlog. Because children are not placed on the CAMHS list for these assessments, NHS Highland told us it holds no aggregate CAMHS ADHD or autism waiting data (Section 17 of FOISA). In Argyll and Bute, children's referrals go through the council's Single Point of Access instead, a route used by professionals, so speak to your child's school, health visitor, or GP.

Private assessment in Inverness

Local private providers in Inverness and the Highlands are limited, so most people in the area use online providers who assess by video from across Scotland and England. For a region this dispersed, remote assessment is a practical and widely used option, and quality varies in the same way as it does in person. Private adult ADHD assessment typically costs between £800 and £2,000. Three things to check before booking:

HIS registration: Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) is Scotland's regulator for private healthcare, and an HIS-registered provider has been inspected against required standards. Not every provider is legally required to register: services that do not employ, engage, or grant practising privileges to a medical doctor, nurse, or other listed professional are exempt, as are England-based online providers regulated by the CQC. Our regulation page explains the detail, and you can filter by HIS status on our compare tool.

Shared care support: If you are prescribed ADHD medication privately, you pay for private prescriptions at first. Many people then ask their NHS GP to take over prescribing under a shared care agreement, which is cheaper long-term. NHS Highland's adult ADHD guidance covers referrals based on private diagnoses that meet its documentation standards, but individual GPs retain the right to decline shared care, so ask providers what support they offer. Our shared care guide has the full picture.

Assessment method: A thorough assessment uses validated rating scales (such as Conners, DIVA-5, or ADOS-2 for autism) and gathers information from someone who knows you, not just self-report. Our compare tool shows which providers use validated tools.

Find online providers serving the Highlands →

After a diagnosis

Medication: a private ADHD diagnosis and prescription are valid in Scotland, and you can ask your NHS GP to take over prescribing through shared care. Distance from specialist services can make follow-up harder in rural Highland areas, so plan for how reviews will happen. Our shared care guide explains what to do if your GP refuses.

Autism support: after an autism diagnosis, support in the Highlands is available through Highland Council adult social care and national organisations including Scottish Autism. Our after diagnosis page covers next steps.

Peer support: the Scottish ADHD Coalition maintains a map of local groups, which includes the Caithness ADHD Support Group in the far north. Online communities are particularly useful across a region this size, and our support page links to the main organisations.

Useful links

ADHD Scot is an independent, non-clinical information project. Nothing here is medical advice. If you think you may have ADHD or autism, the right first step is a conversation with your GP.