Question 1

Where is the clinic based?

Accepted Answer

We see the majority of our patients in consulting rooms on Wimpole Street in Central London. We also provide online consultation and we have a satellite clinic in Bristol. We will provide details and directions about how to access your appointment whether it is in-person or online when we confirm your appointment.

Question 2

Our registered address for correspondence (only) is:

Accepted Answer

The Effra Clinic,  4th Floor,
86-90 Paul Street,
London,
EC2A 4NE

Question 3

Do you provide emergency care /out of hours /crisis care?

Accepted Answer

The Effra Clinic is a specialist outpatient clinic and we provide care to patients who require treatment on an outpatient basis only. Our clinicians are offering assessments and treatment for patients who require usually monthly or annual appointments. If you require more intensive support we recommend you see your GP for a referral to your local crisis team. We do not provide urgent or out of hours or emergency care, therefore if you are in an emergency please contact your GP or attend your local A&E.

Question 4

I have a disability, can I access your service?

Accepted Answer

Yes, if you have a condition that you feel may impact your access to our service please email our admin team and we will make every effort to ensure we can provide the reasonable adjustments required.

Question 5

How far in advance you are booking?

Accepted Answer

This depends on the assessment required; we generally book about 2-3 months in advance for child appointments and we are able to offer appointments without a waiting list for adult assessments

Question 6

When can I have my appointments?

Accepted Answer

We are a small service and the clinicians have all commitments in the NHS as well; however we aim to find a convenient time and we run some Saturday and evening clinics regularly.

Question 7

Do schools accept private reports or only from the NHS?

Accepted Answer

Private assessment reports are often shared with the child’s school (with parental consent) and are usually accepted by the school as a helpful way to understand the child’s profile and get the recommendations.

Question 8

Do NHS services recognise a diagnosis of ADHD or autism made privately?

Accepted Answer

This depends on local protocols and may vary from service to service. It may be helpful  to discuss this with your GP prior to assessment. Our assessments meet standards recommended by the National Institute for health and Care Excellence (NICE)  and in our experience, the quality of our assessments means that the outcome can be used to inform ongoing treatment and support in the NHS and by other agencies.

Question 9

Feedback

Accepted Answer

We are always looking to maintain and improve high quality standards of care and we value any feedback relating to your experience of the practice as a whole. If you would like to leave feedback please complete the form available here.(https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/KFTPSBT)

Question 10

Complaints

Accepted Answer

If you are unhappy with any part of our service please contact us and we will try our best to resolve this promptly.

Question 11

How soon can you be seen?

Accepted Answer

We are pleased to announce that we have increased our clinic capacity for adult assessments and we are able to offer assessments without a waiting list for adults. We are currently experiencing high demand for child services and we operate a waiting list.

Please complete the contact form and we will respond within 5 working days to send you the forms that will be needed to get further information'

Question 12

What experience do Effra clinicians have in neurodevelopmental condition?

Accepted Answer

There is biographical information about our clinicians on the website and we would encourage you to read this before arranging an assessment. All our clinicians work in both NHS and in private setting and predominantly work in the field of neurodevelopmental conditions exclusively.
The Effra clinic has a specialist focus on neurodevelopmental conditions, and we have been working together as a team since 2014.
In addition to clinical expertise and background in neurodevelopmental conditions, our team is involved in national teaching and research in this field.
All assessments are led by our psychiatrists. Psychiatrists are medical doctors with specialism in mental health and this means that as well as assessment of neurodevelopmental conditions, our doctors will be able to review your wider mental health and physical health 
How is important is it to have someone who knows me well contributing to the assessment
For adults seeking assessment regarding the possibility of a neurodevelopmental condition, we encourage bringing information from someone who knew you in childhood as well as information from someone who knows you as an adult in the assessment. This can be done by an informant completing background screening questionnaires and there are also elements of the autism assessment which are designed to be completed with a parent.

In some instances we are able to done parental assessments with parents who do not speak English either using an interpreter or a bilingual interviewer.

Question 13

Do your clinicians have expertise in assessing ADHD and autism in women?

Accepted Answer

All our clinicians have a lot of experience of autism and ADHD assessment  including in groups where standardised assessments can underestimate difficulties (such as people with a high IQ, older people and women); in these cases, detailed and thorough assessment including looking for evidence of camouflaging or masking of difficulties is important   We also use background rating screening to screen for comorbid mental health disorders and where possible get input from someone who knows the person such as a parent or close friend to build up a complete picture of the individual.

Furthermore, we have a lot of experience of assessment  of women with suspected neurodevelopmental conditions and how ADHD and autism can present in an atypical way. We use the gold standard diagnostic tools which allow us to get information about the presence of neurodevelopmental symptoms from early developmental period as well as current impairment but importantly we undertake a very detailed clinical interview as part of the adults assessment. This allows us to explore current and past behaviour and experiences in detail (rather than having to solely rely on standardised instruments and rating scales, which although important, is not the backbone of the assessment).

Question 14

How is important is it to have someone who knows me well contributing to the assessment?

Accepted Answer

Autism and ADHD are both neurodevelopmental conditions, characterized by the emergence of specific traits or symptoms in early childhood. However, it's important to acknowledge that for some individuals, these traits may go unnoticed or be underestimated for various reasons, leading to delayed assessment until adulthood.

When evaluating Autism and/or ADHD in adulthood, having access to information about the individual's childhood presentation can be incredibly valuable. This information is ideally provided by someone who was well-acquainted with the individual during their developmental years. Typically, this is a parent or caregiver, but it could also be an older sibling, another relative, or a close family friend. Additionally, school reports can offer valuable insights.

Please note that the developmental and background history provided by the informant will be part of the detailed reports that we complile as part of our assessments for children and adults.

We understand that, in certain situations, an adult seeking assessment may be unable or unwilling to provide a childhood informant to contribute to the assessment process. In such cases, we are still more than willing to conduct an assessment. However, it's important to note that lacking detailed information about early childhood experiences may make it more challenging to arrive at a definitive diagnosis.

Question 15

What if the informant for my assessment doesn't speak English?

Accepted Answer

At Effra, we have experience of completing background interviews with friends or family members for whom English is not their first language and where possible we will try to accommodate this. We work with clinicians who are able to complete diagnostic assessments in several languages (including Greek, Spanish, Portuguese and German) and we will aim to complete an assessment in the interviewee's first language where possible. When we do not have access to a clinician with the necessary language skills, we can investigate the use of an interpreter.

Please note that when we need to complete an interview via an interpreter this can add to the duration of the interview and the cost of the assessment. (the additional fee would be quoted on a case by case basis to cover the cost of an interpreter).

We do not recommend using friends or family to translate clinical interviews as it can affect the information provided and affect the accuracy of the assessment.

Where there are background documents relevant to the assessment which are not in English, we ask that they are translated prior to submitting to the team.

FAQs