Guide

If I move or change GP, can my ADHD medication stop?

It can be disrupted, so it is worth planning ahead. Shared care prescribing in the NHS is voluntary, so a new GP practice is not obliged to continue an arrangement set up elsewhere. A new practice may carry on prescribing, may ask for a fresh shared care agreement, or may decline, and local policies vary. The safest approach is to confirm continuity with the new practice and your specialist before you transfer and to avoid running low. Never stop or change medication on your own. This is information, not medical advice.

Information only, not medical advice and not a diagnosis. Never start, stop or change prescription medication without advice from your prescriber. In an emergency, seek urgent medical help.

Why a move can affect prescribing

Much ADHD medication is prescribed in general practice under a shared care arrangement, where a specialist sets up the medication and a GP handles routine prescribing under an agreed protocol. The British Medical Association is clear that shared care is voluntary, so it is not something a new practice automatically inherits. When you change GP, the new practice decides whether to take it on, which is why a move can be a point where prescribing is at risk of a gap.

What a new practice may decide

A new GP practice broadly has three options when you transfer:

• Continue the existing prescribing and shared care arrangement.
• Ask for a fresh shared care agreement, sometimes via the local specialist service.
• Decline shared care, in which case prescribing would sit with the specialist or private provider.

Local commissioning policies for ADHD differ between areas, so what one practice agrees may not match another. See our guide on whether a GP can refuse shared care for more on that.

How to reduce the risk of a gap

• Ask the new practice, before you register, whether they will continue your ADHD prescribing and shared care.
• Make sure your medical records and specialist letters transfer with you.
• Keep enough medication to cover the changeover, and do not let yourself run out.
• If there is any uncertainty, speak to your specialist or current prescriber about a plan.

For what to do if supply itself is the problem rather than the move, see our guide on the ADHD medication shortage.

Sources: British Medical Association, Principles for shared care prescribing. Last reviewed June 2026.

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