MEDICAL LEGAL REQUESTS - FAO SOLICITORS

Child & Adolescent Assessments Northern Ireland (CAANI) offer child psychiatry (child and adolescent mental health & emotional wellbeing) medical legal assessments to minor clients (up to the age of 18 years) upon instruction from solicitors. Additionally, we offer specialist expertise in this area reference intellectual disabilities and neuro-diversity (Autism and ADHD). All medical legal appointments are with Dr Maggie McGurgan, Consultant Psychiatrist MB BCh BAO, PGDip Mental Health, PGDip Family Therapy & Systemic Practice, PGCert Clin Ed, MRCPsych.
Please contact us by e-mail to request further information.

 

Child & Adolescent Assessments Northern Ireland (CAANI) are a private service offering convenient and prompt ADHD assessment for children and young people in Northern Ireland.

 

CAANI are reconfiguring our offered services relating to changes beyond our control in other areas of health services.

 

WE ARE THEREFORE CURRENTLY ONLY ACCEPTING GP (NHS OR PRIVATE) REFERRALS FOR PAEDIATRIC NEW PATIENTS (AGES 6-17 YEARS) REGARDING

 PRIVATE, NICE COMPLIANT ASSESSMENTS FOR POSSIBLE ADHD.

We can only accept referrals from GPs in Northern Ireland (NHS or Private).

We will update this website should this information change.

 

Our doctors are very experienced Consultant Psychiatrists in Child and Adolescent Mental Health. Our focus is on offering a timely assessment with diagnosis (if appropriate) and provision of a comprehensive report which families can use for access to specialist support in education, health, training or employment. We oversee specialist prescribing for ADHD when indicated but do not offer a therapeutic service and therefore advise and/or refer regarding onward support from established services as is relevant to each individual case. All assessment processes meet NICE recommendations and are therefore valid for Education Authority etc. Our clinicians also all have/had NHS roles in the assessment and management of complex and co-morbid ADHD.

 

WE ARE NOT CURRENTLY ABLE TO ACCEPT ANY SELF/PARENT/CARER REFERRALS

 

All known/open cases (where a child has received a formal diagnostic outcome and been commenced on a medication at the direction of our doctors – Dr Holly Greer, Consultant Psychiatrist MB BCh BAO, PGDip Mental Health, PGCert Systemic Practice, PGCert Clin Ed, MRCPsych or Dr Maggie McGurgan, Consultant Psychiatrist MB BCh BAO, PGDip Mental Health, PGDip Family Therapy & Systemic Practice, PGCert Clin Ed, MRCPsych) can continue to attend for medication review appointments as required and these are booked by e-mail in the usual way.

 

Information for GPs & Parents/Carers

We accept referrals from GPs (NHS or Private) for Paediatric ADHD assessments (aged 6-17 years). Please complete and e-mail return a referral form or email a GP referral letter. Upon receipt of referral, if we have new patient availability, we will then contact the parent/guardian to complete a booking form. We will contact both the parent/guardian and the child’s GP following the assessment/appointment and keep them updated regarding any recommendations for further assessment or treatment.
 We request that all email referrals are sent password protected. Download a Referral form here.

N.B. PLEASE ADVISE AT POINT OF REFERRAL IF YOUR PRACTICE IS AGREEABLE TO WORKING WITH US TO PRESCRIBE ADHD MEDICATION (SHOULD SAME BE INDICATED) IN A MODEL SIMILAR TO SHARED CARE BUT BY ARRANGEMENT WITH CAANI AS SPECIALIST PROVIDER (WITH CAANI PROVIDING ALL RELEVANT SPECIALIST MONITORING) AND IF NOT, PARENT/CARER WILL NEED TO BE AWARE OF THE COSTS/COMPLEXITIES OF PRIVATE CONTROLLED DRUG PRESCRIPTIONS. 

Where NHS GPs are not agreeable to prescribe ADHD medications (when medications are indicated), patients can access these via private scripts through Vitalis Health (details and costs are on their website).

 

Important Information

Please note that we do not offer an emergency service and do not provide emergency appointments or assessments. If you require urgent help or assessment then please contact your child’s GP or GP out of hours service. We do not offer child psychiatry assessments except for medicolegal purposes. We do not hold a waiting list.