ADHD shared care is an arrangement where your psychiatrist and your GP coordinate your ongoing ADHD management together. The psychiatrist leads specialist diagnosis and treatment decisions, including medication where clinically appropriate, while your GP supports day-to-day care and your broader health. Working together, they keep reviews, prescribing and your overall wellbeing joined up over time.
If you've heard the phrase 'shared care' and weren't sure what it actually means for you, this guide breaks it down: who does what, how prescribing and reviews are coordinated, and why this model helps your care stay consistent and aligned for the long term.
What is ADHD shared care?
Shared care simply means more than one clinician shares responsibility for your ongoing care, in a coordinated way. For ADHD, that usually means your psychiatrist (a specialist medical doctor) and your GP working as a team, each contributing what they're best placed to provide.
Rather than every aspect of your care sitting with one person, shared care spreads it sensibly: specialist expertise where you need it, and accessible, familiar local care for the everyday. Done well, it gives you the best of both.
Who looks after what in shared care?
In an ADHD shared care arrangement, each clinician has a clear role. Your psychiatrist leads the specialist side, and your GP supports continuity and your wider health. The exact arrangement is agreed between your clinicians and you.
Here's a general picture of how responsibilities are typically divided.
- Psychiatrist: confirms diagnosis, leads treatment decisions including medication where clinically appropriate, and oversees specialist reviews.
- GP: supports ongoing and day-to-day care, your general health, and can be part of prescribing arrangements over time.
- You: stay at the centre, sharing how things are going so the plan reflects your real life.
- Together: your clinicians communicate to keep decisions consistent and your care joined up.
How is ongoing prescribing coordinated?
Where medication is part of your care, prescribing for ADHD is regulated in Australia and is led by your psychiatrist as the specialist. Over time, shared care arrangements can mean your GP becomes involved in ongoing prescribing, within the relevant regulations and in coordination with your psychiatrist.
The practical benefit for you is continuity: once a plan is established, ongoing care can often be supported closer to home, while your psychiatrist remains involved for specialist review. This article describes the model only in general terms; the specifics of any medication are a matter for you and your psychiatrist, based on your individual circumstances, and no particular outcome is promised.
- Prescribing is regulated in Australia and led by your psychiatrist.
- Your GP can be involved in ongoing prescribing within the relevant regulations.
- Arrangements are coordinated between your clinicians, not left to chance.
- The aim is continuity and convenience, with specialist oversight retained.
How do reviews work over time?
ADHD care isn't 'set and forget'. Reviews are a normal part of ongoing management, because your needs, circumstances and what's working can all change. Shared care builds these check-ins in, with your psychiatrist providing specialist review and your GP supporting more regular, accessible care.
Reviews are a chance to talk honestly about how things are going, what's helping, what isn't, and to adjust the plan. Because your clinicians are coordinating, what you discuss in one setting can inform the other, so you're not starting from scratch each time.
- Periodic specialist reviews with your psychiatrist.
- More regular, accessible support through your GP.
- Plans adjusted over time as your needs change.
- Information shared between clinicians so your care stays consistent.
Why does shared care keep everyone aligned?
Shared care keeps everyone aligned because it's built on communication between your clinicians, rather than each working in isolation. When your psychiatrist and GP are in the loop on your plan, decisions stay consistent, your broader health is considered alongside your ADHD, and there are fewer gaps for things to fall through.
At Seen ADHD, this is the model we work within: a registered psychologist leads the in-depth assessment, a psychiatrist confirms diagnosis and looks after treatment where clinically appropriate, and your GP is part of ongoing shared care, all delivered by secure video from home, anywhere in Australia. Our Treatment & Review (ongoing care) service starts from $1,495, and rebates are situational and never guaranteed.
A quick note
This article is general information about how shared care works, not personal medical advice, a diagnosis, or a recommendation about any specific medication. The right arrangement for you is something to work out with your treating clinicians.
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