"Medication for Late diagnosed ADHD"

From the very first meeting with Shelley I felt a feeling of calm and being heard that I've never experienced in my journey through late diagnosis ADHD. I was referred to this Team after I relocated to Doncaster. I can honestly say that the care, compassion and friendly nature of Shelley blew me away!

My previous experience was very different. I was diagnosed then left with no treatment plan, no follow up calls or appointments, nothing for over a year. I'm sure I would have been left even longer had I not moved house and had to start with a new GP referral in my new area. So, as you can imagine, I went into my first meeting with Shelley with little to no expectations of being heard or coming away with anything positive.

I couldn't have been more wrong! Shelley was incredible with me, I not only came away with a treatment plan that I could start immediately but also left with so much more of an understanding of my ADHD. Any questions myself or my partner had were answered in a way we could fully understand and we weren't made to feel that anything we asked was silly or irrelevant. I can't put into words how I felt walking away from that first interaction with so much positivity and hope.

Shelley always put me at ease at every face to face meeting or phone consultation. She explained how ADHD brains work and process things. She made me realise I wasn't broken or incapable like I always thought I was. Shelley was professional in every way, but with the perfect balance of human compassion and fun. Everything was explained to me so well at every meeting so I always understood what was happening and we always discussed everything going on in my life to give clarity on why my medication may be needed to stay at a certain level for longer etc. One thing I'll always remember her saying about medication was that it's about managing expectations, and she was right, it is life changing in many ways, but it's also not a fix your entire life miracle pill. I always appreciated her honesty.

The whole titration period was a great experience for me. Shelley really cared about my experience and I was honestly so sad to be moving on to shared care with my GP because she was just so easy to talk to and a great person to know. She works extremely hard and really cares about the service she provides to her patients. I wish her every success and hope that she knows just how much she changed my life! And I'm sure many many others feel the same. I will forever be grateful for being referred to the RDaSH Team at the Tickhill Road Site Balby.

The only problem I have with this review is that I was asked to be 100% honest, giving the good, the bad and the ugly truth in my statement. This may seem easy as people do like to moan, however, hand on heart I cannot find one thing I'd like to see done better or differently. From my experience with this team I only have positive feedback. I'm sorry if this doesn't fit the well rounded view you were looking for but I can't bring to mind anything negative. From the first correspondence offering me an appointment, which included full details of how to find the site and access the building (an absolute bonus for me as I do suffer anxiety visiting new places and worry about finding where I need to be). To the first time meeting Shelley and feeling an instant sense of relief, calm and rapport. Coming away feeling so elated and optimistic about my future, a feeling I can't remember having for many many years. Right throughout my Titration period I felt heard, communicated with and cared about! How can I provide any negative feedback or points to improve on when I was given only the best treatment/care by Shelley?

As an ADHD person I'm certainly not great at getting the point and I am notoriously bad at going over and over a topic in great detail to make sure I'm understood. I do hope that somewhere in my words you can find something of use for your study of this Service Provider, because, quite honestly Shelley deserves to be recognised and commended for her work. Yes it's her job, but in my opinion she gives more than just doing her job. People like Shelley are an asset and credit to your Service. I have a life now that I never thought possible and I will never forget what she did for me.

Thank you for taking the time to read my story.