Shared Care Agreements are written agreements between specialist services and general practitioners and allow care, specifically prescribing, to be safely shared between them.
BMA guidance, Advice & Support, “shared care” with private providers:
Sometimes the care of a patient is shared between two doctors, usually a GP and a specialist, and there is a formalised written ‘shared care agreement’ setting out the position of each, to which both parties have willingly agreed. Where these arrangements are in place, GP providers can arrange the prescriptions and appropriate investigations, and the results are fully dealt with by clinicians with the necessary competence under the shared care arrangement. There is NHS guidance available about this.
Share Care is not recommended with private providers due to the NHS constitution principle of keeping a clear separation between private and NHS care. Shared Care is currently set up as an NHS service, and entering into a shared care arrangement may have implications around governance and quality assurance as well as promoting health inequalities. Shared care may be appropriate where contracted private providers are providing commissioned NHS services and where appropriate shared care arrangements are in place.
All shared care arrangements are voluntary, so even where agreements are in place, practices can decline shared care requests on clinical and capacity grounds. The responsibility for the patients care and ongoing prescribing then remains the responsibility of the private provider.
As a practice we are following the BMA guidance, around private ADHD shared care agreements. Presently we are not commissioned for most private ADHD services and therefore, not required to sign up for all private shared care agreements offering ADHD care.
We understand that this is frustrating, but until we are authorised by the Integrated Care Board Contracting Team, Coventry & Warwickshire who have reviewed the providers NHS contract there are limited prescribing ADHD providers we can refer to.