It costs £17 billion annually, to support people with untreated ADHD due to educational failure, unemployment, crime, suicide, and long-term illness. When people receive appropriate support, they thrive — holding jobs, building stable relationships, and contributing meaningfully to society. The NHS’s official Independent ADHD Taskforce has delivered a landmark report in June 25, calling for a complete rethink of how ADHD is supported across England. The message is clear: ADHD care must move beyond “super-specialist” bottlenecks and into accessible, community-based models — with GPs, allied health professionals and potentially clinical ADHD coaches all playing a greater role to meet the needs of those who are struggling with symptoms.
Right now, ADHD support in England is in crisis.
Waiting times have escalated to years, with many adults and children left untreated. According to the taskforce, this “inability to access NHS services” has driven a surge in unregulated private clinics, creating a two-tier system that fuels health inequalities. However, the real story is worse. People scrape together the money for a private assessment and then can’t afford the medication that they might be offered, and their GPs won’t accept their diagnosis so they can’t get their medication on an NHS prescription. Some lose their place in the NHS assessment queue too.
The current model, limits ADHD assessment and treatment to “highly specialised, secondary care clinicians,” usually working as part of mental health services. The NHS specialist services to support people are typically poor with access to single group sessions for many or medication. Non-medical evidence-based options of support remain limited. ADHD is common (affecting roughly 3–5% of the population) and lifelong, yet it’s managed as though it were a rare or highly complex condition and neurodivergence of any sort is still linked to mental health services rather than under its own umbrella.
The taskforce wants this to change. Atrium Clinic agrees.
The taskforce recommends a “holistic, stepped, joined-up, generalist approach”, with GPs taking on a greater role, similar to how diabetes or asthma are managed. That means:
- Training and remunerating GPs to assess, prescribe and monitor ADHD safely
- Clearer definitions of “specialist” so that care can happen outside narrow psychiatric pathways
- Shared-care models that connect GPs, psychologists, therapists and trained ADHD coaches
- Better regulation of non-NHS providers, with NICE setting clearer guidance and monitoring adherence for assessment, diagnosis and medication in particular
This represents a fundamental shift in thinking — from “Who’s allowed to help?” to “Who’s best placed to support?”
If the NHS looks toward generalist, community-based ADHD support, clinical ADHD coaching as an evidence-based and robust intervention could become a cornerstone of that system that embraced more options for support. That’s what we do at Atrium Clinic. We are working with our university partner to evaluate the impact of this intervention when delivered by those with psychological and clinical training. (They may also have lived experience of ADHD). At Atrium Clinic, we train our practitioners in clinical ADHD coaching in our accredited course to ensure our standards of support for every client are as high as they can be. This training is alongside their mental health training, CBT informed therapy , coaching and counselling training and other therapeutic approaches to support the impact of ADHD diagnosis.
ADHD coaching focuses on personalised, goal-focused and practical, skills-based support too: time management, organisation, emotional regulation, and accountability. When delivered by trained clinical practitioners (psychologists, counsellors, nurses), coaching complements our clinical knowledge, management and therapy and the psychoeducation we share is evidence-based. We can also assess and formulate for risk and support mental health issues that may arise in coaching clients.
The benefits of ADHD support in the community include
- Bridging the waiting gap:
Clinical ADHD Coaching provides immediate, structured support for individuals waiting for formal assessment or medication, reducing distress and risk. - Reducing GP burden:
Clinical ADHD Coaches can manage clinical and non -clinical aspects — freeing GPs to focus on clinical oversight. - Improving adherence and outcomes:
Coaching can help clients apply treatment plans (e.g., medication routines, CBT strategies) effectively in everyday life. - Early intervention and prevention:
Coaching can identify challenges early — before they escalate into crises involving school exclusion, job loss, or justice system contact. - Cost-effective, scalable care:
By embedding ADHD clinical coaching services in primary care networks (PCNs), Integrated Care Systems (ICSs), or social prescribing frameworks, the NHS could deliver evidence-based support at lower cost per patient than traditional secondary care.
The taskforce cites Canada’s Integrated Youth Services (IYS) as a model for joined-up ADHD and neurodivergence support. IYS centres act as “one-stop shops” for young people aged 12–25, offering assessment, mental health, physical health and social care in a single hub.
ADHD coaching already features in similar youth or community-based models abroad — suggesting that the UK could embed professional coaching into community services, to support :
- GP surgeries and PCNs
- School and college wellbeing hubs
- Community mental health teams
- Justice/housing support services
Atrium Clinic takes referrals of patients for our free face to face ADHD coaching service in Southend and some remote appointments from wider GP practices and NHS specialist services. We send out certificates back to GPs once the coaching is complete and we link with GPs if we have safeguarding concerns or seek clinical oversight. Currently 75% of our patients see improvements in their symptoms and wellbeing from 4 sessions. That’s why we are evaluating the intervention in greater depth with our university partner to inform our practice and share with our primary and specialist care network.
If NHS England implements the taskforce’s recommendations, we could see a national network of ADHD-aware primary care teams, supported by trained clinical coaches and specialists.
Atrium Clinic has experience and is evaluating the impact of the interventions we use in international and UK based studies
Clinical ADHD coaching — delivered ethically and in partnership with GPs — could be the bridge between waiting to be diagnosed, diagnosis and improving daily life.
If you would like to work with Atrium Clinic to provide free ADHD coaching to your patients waiting for diagnosis or after diagnosis, get in touch. This project ends at the end of March 2026, but we are looking to partner with GP practices longer term.
Get in touch to talk to us about our research into ADHD clinical coaching or if you would like to refer patients to us during this research trial. We also accept patients directly into the trial for remote sessions, subject to eligibility criteria being met and agreement to our terms and conditions. Research participation is not mandatory and is explained in our patient information sheet.
