Fees

What the appointment fee is actually buying

An appointment fee looks like payment for time, but much of what it covers happens outside the call.

• Preparation. Reading your questionnaires, referral information and any previous letters before you appear on screen.
• The consultation itself, at the stated length, with a consultant psychiatrist rather than a triage call.
• The clinical decision and the plan, including the reasoning behind it.
• The write-up. Your clinical summary, and the letter to your GP if you consent to one.
• A prescription issued during that appointment, where medication is clinically appropriate.

What sits outside the fee matters too. Pharmacy dispensing charges are separate. Blood tests, an ECG or blood pressure readings are arranged locally, usually through your GP, and are not billed by the clinic. Psychological therapy, and medico-legal, court and benefits reports, are not provided at any price. There is no crisis or out-of-hours service. Repeat prescriptions requested between appointments are charged separately, at £150 for existing patients and subject to clinical review.

A worked example: adult ADHD from assessment to shared care

People want to know the whole cost, not the first line of it. Here is one plausible course using the fees listed above. It is an illustration, not a quotation.

The number of reviews is the variable that moves the total. Some people settle on a dose after one review; others need four or five, or a change of medication part-way, which adds £200 each time. A first assessment does not always reach a conclusion in one hour, and a further review is sometimes needed before any diagnosis is made. Read the table as a shape, not a price.

Two further outcomes change the arithmetic. A diagnosis does not automatically lead to medication, so some courses of care stop after the assessment and one review. And a shared care agreement is a request, not a transfer: your NHS GP decides whether to accept it. If the practice declines, ongoing private care continues to cost £200 for each review plus £150 for any repeat prescription between reviews, which is the figure to do sums on before you start. Shared care with your GP explains how that decision is made.

Pharmacy and prescription costs

A prescription from a private psychiatrist is a private prescription. The pharmacy charges you the cost of the medicine itself plus its own dispensing fee, and that price varies by drug and by pharmacy. It is worth ringing two pharmacies with the drug name and dose before you collect.

The NHS charge only applies once prescribing has moved to your GP. In England that is £9.90 per item, charged per item rather than per prescription. A prescription prepayment certificate, meanwhile, costs £32.05 for three months or £114.50 for twelve, and saves money above three items in three months or eleven in a year. NHS inform states that prescriptions in Scotland are free; if you are in Wales or Northern Ireland, check the arrangement where you live.

Questions worth asking any private provider

These apply to any private psychiatry service, and the answers are usually more revealing than the headline price.

1. Is the fee per appointment, or does it cover an episode of care with reviews included?
2. How long is the appointment, and what happens if more time is needed?
3. What is the realistic range for the number of follow-ups?
4. Is a prescription included in the appointment fee, or charged on top?
5. What does a repeat prescription cost between appointments, and how quickly is it issued?
6. Are letters, forms and copies of reports charged separately?
7. What is the cancellation and rescheduling policy, and how much notice is required?
8. If a diagnosis needs a second appointment, is that charged at the full assessment rate?
9. What is the annual cost if my GP declines shared care and I stay in private care?
10. Is the psychiatrist on the GMC specialist register, and can I check that myself?

You can verify the last one yourself on the GMC medical register, free, before paying anything.

Fees checked September 2026. They are set by Happy Clinic and should always be confirmed on its booking page before you pay. NHS prescription charges and prepayment certificate prices were checked against the NHS website in September 2026.