These Terms and Conditions are governed by the laws of England and Wales, subject to any applicable consumer rights and explain the basis on which Everest Clinic provides psychological assessment, diagnostic, consultation, therapy and other services. Please read them carefully before booking a service.

 

Nothing in these Terms and Conditions affects your statutory rights as a consumer. Where the person purchasing a service and the person receiving the service are different people, their respective contractual, confidentiality and clinical rights may also be different. These Terms explain that distinction.

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Urgent and Emergency Needs

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Important: If you are in the UK and you or someone else is in danger, call 999 or go to A&E now.

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Everest Clinic is not an emergency or crisis-response service. Routine email accounts, messaging systems, booking systems and clinical appointments must not be relied upon for emergency assistance.

 

Where urgent mental health or medical help is required, the person should use an appropriate NHS, emergency or crisis service for their location. Where Everest Clinic becomes aware of a serious or immediate risk during its work, we may take reasonable steps in accordance with our safeguarding, confidentiality and professional responsibilities.

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If you're in crisis and need to talk right now, there are many helplines staffed by trained people ready to listen. They won't judge you and could help you make sense of what you're feeling. You can find links to some of them in our Crisis Support page, https://www.everestclinic.co.uk/crisis-support.

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PART 1 - The Contract and Our Services

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1. About Everest Clinic, Definitions and Related Documents

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Everest Clinic is the trading name of Everest Clinic Ltd, registered in England and Wales under company number 14749759, with its registered office at:

 

87 Warwick Street,
Chandos Business Centre, 1st Floor
Leamington Spa
Warwickshire
CV32 4RJ
United Kingdom

 

Our contact details are provided at the end of these Terms.

 

In these Terms “Everest Clinic”, “we”, “us” and “our” mean Everest Clinic Ltd, trading as Everest Clinic. “Customer” means the person who enters into a contract with Everest Clinic and is responsible for payment, unless payment is being made by another agreed party. “Service User” or “Client” means the person receiving the psychological assessment, therapy or other clinical service. “Clinician” means the clinical psychologist or other appropriately qualified professional involved in delivering the service. Where the Customer and Service User are different people, some provisions apply specifically to one or the other according to the context.

 

These Terms should be read alongside our Privacy Notice [LINK] and Privacy Information for Children and Young People [LINK] and any service-specific agreement provided to you. Clients receiving psychological therapy should also read the Psychological Therapy Agreement, in Schedule 1, at the end of these Terms. These documents address different legal and clinical matters.

 

Information about the services, price and what is included are explained in our Process and Fees guidelines, available for download in pdf format at www.everestclinic.co.uk/fees. The price applicable to your service is the price confirmed to you before the contract is formed. A subsequent change to Everest Clinic's published fees will not change the price of an existing contracted service unless a change is expressly agreed with you.

 

Before or in connection with a Discovery Call, we may ask you to confirm that you have received, read and agreed to these Terms. That confirmation does not, by itself, create a contract for a chargeable clinical service and does not constitute informed clinical consent to assessment or therapy. Similarly, confirming that you have received or read our Privacy Notice does not mean that Everest Clinic relies upon your consent for all processing of your personal information. The lawful bases on which we process personal information are explained in our Privacy Notice.

 

2. Enquiries, Booking and Formation of the Contract

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Customers entering into a contract with Everest Clinic must normally be aged 18 or over. We may, where legally and clinically appropriate, agree to provide a service directly to a young person aged 16 or 17 who is able to make the relevant decisions for themselves. In those circumstances, we may make appropriate arrangements concerning payment and the contractual terms applicable to the service. Where the Service User is under 18, the Customer will commonly be a parent or another adult arranging or paying for the service. The Customer and the Service User may therefore be different people.

 

Submitting an enquiry, requesting an appointment or attending a Discovery Call does not, by itself, create a contract with Everest Clinic.

 

An initial discussion, Discovery Call or exchange of information may help us understand the service being sought, but does not guarantee that Everest Clinic will accept the referral or offer a particular service.

 

For each chargeable service, Everest Clinic will provide or confirm the relevant service information, price and booking arrangements before the Customer becomes contractually bound.

 

A contract for a chargeable service is formed when Everest Clinic receives the Customer's written acceptance of our offer of that service and the relevant booking arrangements, after the Customer has been provided with or given access to the applicable Terms and relevant service information. Written acceptance may include acceptance by email, text message, WhatsApp message, online booking confirmation or another agreed written or electronic method. Unless we expressly agree otherwise, the date on which we receive that acceptance is the date on which the contract is formed.

 

Payment may become due before the service is provided, in accordance with Chapter 19, but unless expressly stated otherwise, payment itself is not the event that determines when the contract is formed.

 

The Clinical Interview and Screening Service is a separately priced, standalone service. Any subsequently purchased Autism Assessment, ADHD Assessment or Combined Assessment is a separate service and forms a separate contract when the Customer accepts Everest Clinic's offer of that assessment. The Customer is under no obligation to purchase a subsequent assessment following the Clinical Interview and Screening Service.

 

Where psychological therapy is agreed as an ongoing course of therapy, the therapy contract is formed when the Customer accepts Everest Clinic's offer of that therapy service and the applicable booking arrangements. Subsequent therapy appointments arranged as part of the same ongoing course of therapy are ordinarily provided under that existing therapy contract and do not each create a new contract. A materially different or newly commissioned course of therapy may, however, constitute a new service and a new contract.

 

Where the Customer has previously agreed to the same version of these Terms, we may rely upon those Terms for a subsequently purchased service without requiring the Customer to sign or accept the entire document again, provided that before the new contract is formed we make clear that the new service will be supplied subject to those Terms. The Customer must still accept the new service, its price and the relevant booking arrangements. If the applicable Terms have changed, the Customer will be provided with the updated Terms before becoming contractually bound.

 

For a distance contract, Everest Clinic will provide confirmation of the contract and the applicable contractual information in a durable medium, such as by email, within the period required by law and before performance of the service begins.

 

3. Clinical Suitability, Previous Assessments and Information You Provide

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Everest Clinic provides specialist psychological services and not every service is suitable for every person. We may review information provided before or following a booking to determine whether the requested service appears clinically appropriate, within our professional competence and scope of practice, capable of being provided safely, suitable for the referral question and appropriate given other services or interventions the person may require.

 

Acceptance of an enquiry, initial booking request or payment does not necessarily mean that Everest Clinic has already determined that the requested assessment or therapy is clinically suitable. We may recommend another service where, for example urgent mental health or medical intervention is required, our clinician comes to the understanding that another specialist service should take priority, the referral question falls outside our area of competence, a different assessment pathway would be seen as more appropriate or we cannot safely or appropriately meet the person's needs.

 

Where we determine before substantive work has begun that we cannot provide the booked service, payments relating to services that will not be provided will be refunded. Where clinical work has already begun, we will explain the position and any refund or payment adjustment will be calculated fairly in accordance with these Terms.

 

You should tell us about any previous ADHD, autism, neurodevelopmental, psychiatric, psychological or other assessment that is relevant to the referral question. Where reasonably available, we may ask to see previous assessment reports. A previous diagnosis does not automatically prevent Everest Clinic from undertaking another assessment. However, where an assessment has been completed recently, the clinician will consider the purpose of reassessment, the information already available, whether additional assessment would add meaningful clinical information, whether repeating particular assessment instruments would be clinically valid, whether previous exposure to an instrument could affect validity and whether another type of clinical review would be more appropriate. A second-opinion assessment is an independent clinical assessment. It does not mean that Everest Clinic has been commissioned simply to confirm, overturn or endorse another clinician's opinion.

 

Psychological assessment and therapy depend upon sufficiently accurate information. We ask Customers, Service Users and often other informants to provide information honestly and to the best of their knowledge. We recognise that people may not remember everything, particularly events from childhood. Being unable to remember information is not itself a failure to cooperate. However, deliberately withholding or materially misrepresenting clinically significant information may affect safety, assessment validity, treatment decisions, or the conclusions that can reasonably be reached.

 

PART 2 — Consent, Capacity and Involvement of Others

 

4. Clinical Consent and Adult Capacity

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Adults are presumed to have capacity to make their own decisions unless there is evidence to the contrary in relation to the specific decision concerned. A family member cannot automatically consent for another adult merely because they are the person's parent, spouse or partner, relative, carer, or described as their “next of kin”. Where another person claims legal authority to act on an adult's behalf, we may request evidence of that authority. Where capacity is genuinely in doubt, Everest Clinic will follow the applicable legal and professional framework.

 

Clinical consent is an ongoing process rather than merely a signature on a form. Before undertaking a relevant assessment or intervention, we will provide information appropriate to the decision being made and allow reasonable opportunity for questions. A person who has provided consent may withdraw that consent at any time. Where the Service User is a child or young person who is not themselves providing the legal consent, their wishes, cooperation and willingness to continue will nevertheless be taken seriously, in accordance with Chapter 5 – Children, Young People and Parental Responsibility.

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Withdrawal of clinical consent and cancellation of a commercial contract are not necessarily the same thing. Withdrawal of consent does not prevent Everest Clinic from charging amounts lawfully due for services or work already provided. The financial consequences of ending a service are addressed later in these Terms and remain subject to applicable consumer law.

 

5. Children, Young People and Parental Responsibility

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Everest Clinic provides services to children and young people as well as adults. Children and young people will be involved in decisions about their assessment or therapy in a way that reflects their age, understanding, communication needs, individual circumstances and applicable legal requirements. Our clinicians aim to explain what is happening in language and formats the child or young person can understand.

 

Where a child is referred, we may ask the person arranging the service to tell us whether they hold parental responsibility, who else holds parental responsibility, whether there is disagreement concerning the assessment or therapy, whether relevant court proceedings exist, whether any relevant court order is in place and whether another circumstance may materially affect consent. We may request evidence where reasonably necessary. A person arranging or paying for a child's service must not knowingly represent that they have legal authority that they do not hold. Everest Clinic remains responsible for determining whether the consent arrangements are sufficient for the service to proceed.

 

Where we become aware of a significant disagreement between people with parental responsibility, we may pause the service while the position is clarified. Depending upon the circumstances, we may request further information, discussion with relevant parties, documentary evidence, relevant court documentation, or resolution of the dispute before continuing.

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Pausing the assessment does not mean that Everest Clinic has accepted one person's position over another's. We will take account of the child's welfare, the child's own views and rights, the nature of the proposed service, applicable law and our professional responsibilities. Everest Clinic will not knowingly use a private assessment to circumvent a relevant court order or unresolved legal restriction.

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A child under 16 may sometimes have sufficient maturity and understanding to make their own decision about healthcare. Where relevant, the clinician will consider the child's understanding of the proposed assessment or intervention and the consequences of the decision. Where the clinician understands child cannot make the relevant decision independently, appropriate consent from a person with parental responsibility may be required.

 

Young people aged 16 and 17 are ordinarily presumed able to make their own healthcare decisions unless there is evidence that they lack capacity in relation to the particular decision. Where capacity is in question, it will be considered according to the specific decision and applicable law. Parental responsibility, capacity, best-interests considerations and the young person's own rights can interact in complex ways. Where necessary, Everest Clinic may pause the service to clarify the appropriate legal or clinical basis for proceeding.

 

Parental agreement does not mean that the child's or young person's own wishes can simply be disregarded. Where a child or young person is legally able to make the relevant decision themselves, their decision will be given the legal effect required by the circumstances. Where formal consent is provided by another authorised person, we will still normally seek the child's or young person's meaningful cooperation and assent. If a child or young person becomes significantly distressed, does not wish to continue, is unable to meaningfully participate or cannot complete a procedure safely, the clinician may stop, adapt or postpone that part of the assessment.

 

6. Information from Parents and Other People

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Neurodevelopmental assessment often benefits from information from people who know or knew the Service User well. Depending upon the assessment, we may seek information from parents or carers, partners or spouses, siblings or relatives, teachers, SENCOs, schools or colleges, employers, healthcare professionals or other relevant people. The absence of a particular informant does not automatically prevent an assessment from proceeding. The clinician will determine whether the evidence available is sufficient to reach a reliable clinical conclusion. In some cases, however, missing developmental or collateral information may limit the conclusions that can safely be reached.

 

Information provided by an informant may become part of the Service User's clinical record. We will handle this information in accordance with applicable confidentiality and data-protection requirements. However, we cannot promise an informant that everything they tell us will always be withheld from the Service User. Equally, we cannot promise the Service User that every item of information supplied by another person will necessarily be disclosed to them. Requests for access to clinical records are considered according to applicable data-protection law, the Service User's rights, confidentiality, information relating to other people, professional obligations and any applicable legal exemptions. Further information is provided in our Privacy Notice.

 

Where appropriate authority is required before contacting another person or organisation, Everest Clinic will seek that authority. Providing contact details for another person does not necessarily mean that Everest Clinic is authorised to disclose confidential clinical information to them.

 

Clinical records may legitimately include relevant information concerning parents, children, siblings, partners, relatives, teachers, or other third parties. The fact that information about another person appears in the Service User's clinical record does not automatically give either person unrestricted access to all of that information. Requests for access will be considered according to applicable data-protection law, confidentiality obligations and the rights of everyone concerned.

 

PART 3 — Assessment, Therapy and Clinical Services

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7. Psychological and Neurodevelopmental Assessments

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Everest Clinic aims to provide psychological and neurodevelopmental assessments tailored to our Service User’s needs, including assessments relating to ADHD, autism and associated psychological, developmental or functional difficulties.

 

Assessment is an evidence-integration process rather than a single test. Depending upon the individual circumstances, an assessment may involve pre-assessment questionnaires, clinical interviews, detailed developmental history, standardised psychometric measures, interviews with parents, partners, carers, teachers or other informants, structured or semi-structured diagnostic interviews, direct observational assessment, computer-based measures, review of school information, school consultation or observation, review of medical, psychological or educational records, information from employers where appropriate, observations during clinical consultation, review of DSM-5 diagnostic criteria, current difficulties, substance use where clinically relevant, safeguarding matters, risk or safety concerns, multidisciplinary discussion and additional assessment where clinically indicated.

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Different Service Users may therefore receive different combinations of assessment methods. The clinician retains professional responsibility for determining which assessment approaches and instruments are appropriate. A particular assessment instrument will only be used where the clinician considers it clinically appropriate and sufficiently valid for the circumstances. Everest Clinic does not guarantee that a particular instrument will be used simply because it is commonly associated with ADHD or autism assessment. No individual test, questionnaire, interview or observation is treated in isolation as establishing or excluding a diagnosis.

 

Purchasing an assessment means purchasing a professional clinical assessment process. It does not mean purchasing a diagnosis. Completion of an ADHD, autism or combined assessment does not guarantee that a diagnosis will be made. Possible outcomes may include diagnostic criteria being met, diagnostic criteria not being met, an inconclusive outcome, the need for further information, recommendation for additional assessment, consideration of another or additional explanation, or recommendation for another professional or service.

 

Diagnostic conclusions are based upon the evidence reasonably available and the clinician's professional judgement. A Service User's disagreement with a diagnostic conclusion does not, by itself, establish that the assessment was conducted incorrectly. Nothing in this clause limits our duty to provide services with reasonable care and skill or the Client's right to complain or exercise their legal rights.

 

During an assessment, the clinician may conclude that further information or additional assessment would be clinically useful. Where this is already included in the purchased package, no additional fee will apply. Where additional work would fall outside the agreed service, we will explain why it is being recommended, whether it is necessary to reach a conclusion, the likely additional cost and the available alternatives. No additional charge will be imposed without appropriate prior information and agreement.

 

8. Psychological Therapy

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Where Everest Clinic provides psychological therapy, the proposed approach and broad aims will be discussed with the Client or Customer. Therapy may be time-limited, structured around an agreed number of sessions, or provided on an ongoing basis subject to regular clinical review.

 

No psychological therapy can guarantee a particular outcome. Therapy can involve discussion of difficult experiences, relationships, thoughts, behaviour or emotions and may sometimes feel challenging. The therapist will work collaboratively with the Client and review the work where appropriate.

 

Therapy is ordinarily confidential. Where therapy is provided to a child or young person, confidentiality and its limits should be explained in a way that is appropriate to the young person's age and understanding. A parent or another person who pays for therapy is not automatically entitled to a detailed account of what the Client discusses during therapy. Information may nevertheless be disclosed where there is appropriate permission, the law permits or requires disclosure, safeguarding responsibilities apply, there is a serious risk concern, or another lawful professional basis for disclosure exists.

 

The additional practical arrangements applying to therapy are contained in Schedule 1: Psychological Therapy Agreement. Those provisions form part of these Terms where the booked service includes psychological therapy.

 

9. School Visits and appointments outside Everest Clinic

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Some assessments may involve appointments outside Everest Clinic, including school observations visits, school consultations, or visits to another agreed setting. Specifically for school observational visits, we prefer to not inform the parents the exact date of the visit, but the week when it will happen.

 

Where a child is unable to attend school during a day of the week in which a school observational visit is planned, the Customer should inform Everest Clinic as soon as reasonably possible on the relevant morning by emailing schoolvisit@everestclinic.co.uk. This is intended to prevent unnecessary travel and loss of reserved clinical time. Where Everest Clinic incurs a loss because we were not informed of the child's absence as soon as reasonably possible, a reasonable and proportionate charge may apply in accordance with the principles set out in Chapter 22.

 

10. Medico-Legal Work, Additional Documents and Recommendations

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An Everest Clinic diagnostic report is a clinical report. It is not automatically an expert-witness report, a court report, a forensic opinion, or a medico-legal report prepared in accordance with formal expert-witness instructions. Everest Clinic does not provide specialist medico-legal services or reports.

 

Psychological therapy does not automatically place the treating clinician in the role of an expert witness. If a Client seeks therapy, assessment or documentation in connection with existing or anticipated legal proceedings, they should tell Everest Clinic before or as early as reasonably possible during the service. This allows us to consider potential conflicts of role, whether the service requested is professionally appropriate, the limits of the treating clinician's role and whether a separately instructed expert would be required. A treating clinician is not required to accept instructions to act as an expert witness or retrospectively convert therapeutic work into a medico-legal assessment.

 

Recommendations in an Everest Clinic report are clinical recommendations rather than guarantees of services from other organisations. Availability, eligibility and implementation may depend upon decisions made independently by healthcare providers, educational settings, employers, local authorities, examination bodies or other organisations.

 

11 ADHD Medication, Titration and Prescribing Services

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Everest Clinic is a psychology clinic specialising in psychological and neurodevelopmental assessment. An ADHD diagnosis does not guarantee that medication will be clinically appropriate. Our services do not include prescribing ADHD medication, medication titration, medication reviews, ongoing medication monitoring, management of prescriptions, or physical monitoring associated with medication.

 

At the end of your assessment, if medication is identified as a suitable option for you, we may signpost or refer you to independent prescribing providers. Everest Clinic cannot guarantee that another private provider will prescribe, an NHS service will prescribe, a GP will accept a diagnosis for prescribing purposes, or a GP will enter into a shared-care agreement. Any decision to prescribe medication, including the choice of medication, dosage, titration and monitoring, remains the responsibility of the prescribing clinician or service.

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PART 4 — HOW WE PROVIDE CLINICAL SERVICES

 

12. Clinical Teams, Supervision and Delegation

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Clinical supervision and professional consultation are normal parts of safe psychological practice. Where appropriate, clinicians may discuss relevant aspects of a Service User's assessment or therapy with appropriately qualified colleagues for purposes including clinical supervision, diagnostic integration, multidisciplinary decision-making, quality assurance, safeguarding or professional consultation. Such discussions remain subject to confidentiality and data-protection requirements. Only information reasonably necessary for the purpose should be shared.

 

Some aspects of a service may be undertaken by different appropriately trained members of the clinical team. This may include, where appropriate, questionnaire administration, psychometric scoring, structured assessment procedures, information gathering, observations, or other delegated clinical tasks. Work will only be delegated where the professional responsible considers that the person has the necessary competence, training and supervision. Appropriate professional oversight will remain in place. Responsibility for the final diagnostic opinion will rest with the appropriately qualified clinician or clinical team responsible for reaching that conclusion.

 

13. Remote Appointments, Technology and Appointments Outside the UK

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Some appointments may be provided using video consultation or another agreed remote method. The Service User should, where reasonably possible attend from an appropriate and sufficiently private environment, use a reliable internet connection, ensure that they can communicate without avoidable interruption and tell the clinician if another person is present. Where clinically relevant, we may confirm the person's identity and physical location. Some assessment procedures may be considered as not suitable for remote delivery.

 

The clinician may therefore require an in-person appointment where this is necessary for a safe or valid assessment.

 

Clients must tell Everest Clinic in advance if they expect to be physically located outside the United Kingdom during a remote clinical appointment. Psychological practice across national borders may be affected by local law, professional regulation, professional indemnity arrangements, safeguarding arrangements, emergency-response arrangements and clinical risk considerations. Everest Clinic therefore cannot guarantee that an appointment can proceed while the Service User is located in another country. The clinician may need to confirm the Service User's physical location at the start of an appointment. Where providing the service from that location would not be professionally or clinically appropriate, we may rearrange or decline that appointment.

 

If a remote appointment is significantly disrupted by technology problems, the clinician will determine whether the appointment can reasonably continue. Depending upon the circumstances, we may reconnect, use another agreed communication method, rearrange the affected part of the session, or arrange another appointment. Where disruption is substantially caused by Everest Clinic's systems and prevents the agreed service from being provided, the Client will not be unfairly charged for a service that was not provided.

 

14. Participation and Recordings

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A clinician may pause, shorten or rearrange an appointment where they reasonably consider that the Service User is temporarily unable to participate meaningfully or safely. This may arise, for example, because of significant intoxication, an acute medical problem, an acute mental health presentation, a level of distress making the assessment unsafe or invalid or another temporary circumstance affecting meaningful participation.

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Please discuss any wish to audio or video record an appointment with the clinician beforehand. We recognise that recordings can be helpful for some clients, including those who may find it difficult to remember or process information during appointments, however we expressly reserve the right to prohibit recording where it represents a risk to expose restricted or copyrighted psychometric material, compromise standardisation or validity, reveal test stimuli, questions or scoring procedures, involve another person's confidential information, compromise safeguarding or privacy or materially interfere with the assessment or therapeutic process.

 

Everest Clinic will not itself make a recording of a clinical appointment without explaining the purpose and obtaining any consent required. The confidentiality and rights of other people participating in an appointment must also be respected. Secure clinical supervision or professional discussion is not considered a public recording or disclosure.

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15. Confidentiality, Safeguarding and Data Protection

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Information shared with Everest Clinic is ordinarily treated as confidential. Confidentiality is an essential part of our work, but is not absolute. Information may in some circumstances be shared where safeguarding concerns exist, there is a serious concern about harm, the Service User has authorised disclosure, disclosure is permitted or required by law, a court requires disclosure, professional or regulatory requirements apply, or another lawful public-interest or best-interests basis applies. Where reasonably possible and appropriate, we will discuss disclosure with the person concerned.

 

Paying for or arranging a child's assessment does not create an automatic contractual right to receive every item of information held about the child. Rights relating to a child's personal data depend upon the circumstances, including age, understanding, competence, capacity, parental responsibility, the child's own wishes and rights, confidentiality and information relating to other people. Further information is provided in our Privacy Notice.

 

Everest Clinic has professional safeguarding responsibilities towards children and adults at risk. Where safeguarding concerns arise, we may need to share relevant information with appropriate professionals or agencies. Information disclosed should be limited to what is reasonably necessary for the purpose. A Customer cannot contractually require Everest Clinic to keep information confidential where doing so would conflict with a lawful safeguarding or professional responsibility.

 

Everest Clinic processes personal information, including health and other special-category information, in accordance with applicable UK data-protection law. Our Privacy Notice explains who controls personal information, what information we collect, where information may come from, why we use it, the lawful bases and conditions relied upon, who information may be shared with, international-transfer arrangements where relevant, retention periods, data-protection rights and how to raise a concern. The Privacy Notice should be read alongside these Terms but performs a different legal function.

 

16. Contact with Third Parties, GP Details and Communications

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Everest Clinic will normally require appropriate authority before communicating substantive confidential clinical information to another organisation on a Client's behalf. The fact that another person paid for the service does not itself authorise disclosure to that person.

 

Everest Clinic may ask for details of the Service User's GP or another relevant healthcare professional. This may be important for continuity of care, safeguarding, clinical risk management, medical information relevant to an assessment, or onward recommendations. Providing a GP's contact details does not automatically authorise unlimited disclosure of the Service User's confidential information. Routine communication with another professional will take account of the appropriate consent and confidentiality arrangements. There may nevertheless be circumstances in which information can or must be disclosed without consent, as explained in the confidentiality and safeguarding sections of these Terms. Where a Client declines to provide information which the clinician reasonably considers necessary for safe provision of the service, the clinician may need to consider whether the service can appropriately proceed.

 

Clients should use the contact methods provided by Everest Clinic for administrative communication. Our usual administrative working hours are Mondays to Fridays from 9:00 to 16:00. We aim to respond to routine administrative correspondence within 5 working days. This is a service aim rather than an emergency-response guarantee. Clinicians do not continuously monitor email or messaging services. Sending clinical information by email or message does not create an immediate clinical consultation or emergency-response obligation.

 

The main emails addresses for communication are contact@everestclinic.co.uk and booking@everestclinic.co.uk.

 

Clinical information should be sent using reasonably appropriate and secure methods. Clients are responsible for keeping their contact details reasonably up to date. Where reports or other sensitive documents are sent electronically, Everest Clinic may use password protection, secure delivery systems, or other proportionate security measures.

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17. Accessibility and Reasonable Adjustments

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Everest Clinic aims to make its services accessible to neurodivergent and disabled people. Clients are encouraged to tell us about sensory needs, communication preferences, physical accessibility requirements, cognitive or processing needs, language or interpreter needs, or other adjustments that may support access to our services.

 

We recognise that autistic people, people with ADHD and other neurodivergent Clients may communicate, regulate or express distress differently. Dysregulation, communication differences, reduced eye contact, movement, emotional expression or other neurodivergent characteristics will not in themselves be treated as misconduct or evidence that the person cannot participate. Clinicians will consider reasonable adjustments and the individual's presentation before deciding whether an appointment should be stopped or rearranged.

 

Where an adjustment is required as a reasonable adjustment under the Equality Act 2010, the Client will not be charged for the cost of making that adjustment.

 

We will consider reasonable adjustments according to the individual circumstances. These may include, where appropriate adapting communication, providing information in another accessible format, allowing additional processing time, adjusting the sensory environment, modifying appointment arrangements allowing appropriate breaks, accommodating communication aids or adapting aspects of the assessment process.

 

We are located at the first floor of an office, with access via stair, without elevator or ramps for wheelchair. If the stairs represent a significant challenge to accessing our clinical room, please notify us as soon as possible and we will seek reasonable adjustments to attend your accessibility needs. We also aim to anticipate common access needs rather than relying solely upon individual requests. An adjustment may not be possible where it would fundamentally undermine the validity, safety or nature of the clinical procedure. Where that occurs, we will consider reasonable alternatives.

 

PART 5 — Fees, Cancellations and Ending Services

 

18. NHS Right to Choose and Private Payment

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Everest Clinic is an independent private healthcare provider and does not currently provide services under the NHS Right to Choose scheme. Unless Everest Clinic expressly confirms otherwise in writing, all assessments, consultations, reports and other services booked with us are provided on a private basis and are not funded through the NHS Right to Choose scheme. Payment may be made by the Customer or by another payer agreed by Everest Clinic.

 

Choosing or being referred to Everest Clinic does not mean that the NHS, an Integrated Care Board (ICB), a GP practice or another public body will pay for or reimburse the service. If you wish to access an assessment or other service through NHS funding or the Right to Choose pathway, you should discuss the available options with your GP or relevant NHS service before booking privately with Everest Clinic. For further information, refer to “Chapter 27. Other Organisations and Independent Providers”

 

19. Fees, Payment, Funding and Outstanding Amounts

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We ask our clients to complete payment one week before their Clinical Interview and Screening session( also called Clinical Interview) , their Therapy session, or one week before the first session of their Autism, ADHD or Combined assessment processes. These upfront payments are required in full. Any refund or deduction following cancellation will be considered according to these Terms and applicable consumer law. Where an instalment plan is offered, individual instalments do not necessarily represent the value of individual appointments.

 

The Clinical Interview and Screening session is a separately priced, standalone clinical service. Its fee is payable for the Clinical Interview, screening and any associated clinical work specified in the service description, including but not limited to the analysis of the Clinical Questionnaires sent before the appointment. Payment of the Clinical Interview and Screening session is not conditional upon the client proceeding to a subsequent assessment.

 

Following the Clinical Interview and Screening session, the clinician may recommend an Autism Assessment, ADHD Assessment, Combined Assessment or another course of action. The client is under no obligation to purchase a subsequent assessment, or the exact assessment recommended by the clinician. A subsequent assessment will constitute a separate service and will be invoiced only after the client has selected how they wish to proceed.

 

A service may sometimes be paid for the Service User, or by someone other than the Service User, including a parent, another family member, a partner, an employer, an insurer, a university, or another organisation. Payment does not give the payer the right to receive confidential clinical information, determine the clinical process, require a particular diagnosis, alter the clinician's opinion, obtain the Service User's report automatically or exercise the Service User's data-protection rights. Information will only be disclosed in accordance with applicable consent, confidentiality and legal requirements.

 

Where another organisation has agreed to fund a service, the Customer or Service User should confirm the extent of that funding before the service begins. Everest Clinic will explain any charges for which the Customer may personally become liable. Where an organisation contracts directly with Everest Clinic in the course of its business rather than as a consumer, separate contractual arrangements may apply.

 

Where agreed fees remain unpaid, Everest Clinic may pause non-urgent future work after reasonable attempts have been made to resolve the outstanding account. Any action taken will consider the nature of the service, clinical safety, fairness, the reason for non-payment and applicable consumer law. Exercise of a statutory data-protection right will not be made conditional upon payment of an unrelated clinical invoice.

 

20. Additional Clinical work

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The output of the assessment process is a often a clinical diagnostic report. We will do our best effort to accommodate additional demands you may have, but an assessment does not automatically include unlimited letters, forms, benefit applications, school correspondence, occupational forms, legal documents, or other additional documentation. Where the Customer needs a particular document not included in an assessment package, this should be requested to the clinician, who will assess whether an additional fee is required.

 

An assessment service includes work both during and outside appointments. Services outside the agreed package may involve additional charges. Examples may include additional clinical appointments, substantial additional record review, additional letters or forms, additional school visits, additional consultation requested by the Client or other work not included in the original package.

Where additional work is chargeable, the price or basis for calculating it will be provided before the Customer becomes liable for that cost. Any fee for additional professional work will be explained before chargeable work is undertaken and will based on the value for clinical hour listed in our “Assessment Guidelines - Process & Fees” pdf file downloadable at www.everestclinic.co.uk/fees.

 

21. Your 14-Day Statutory Cancellation Right

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Where the Customer is a consumer and enters into a contract with Everest Clinic at a distance, for example by email, telephone, online or WhatsApp, or enters into an off-premises contract and a statutory cancellation right applies, the Customer has the right to cancel the contract without giving a reason during the applicable cancellation period.

 

To exercise the right to cancel, you must inform Everest Clinic of your decision to cancel by a clear statement before the cancellation period expires. You may do this, for example, by sending an email to contact@everestclinic.co.uk, by writing to Everest Clinic at the postal address provided at the end of these Terms, or by communicating another clear statement of your decision to cancel using an appropriate contact method provided by Everest Clinic. You may use the Model Cancellation Form in Schedule 2, but you do not have to use it. It is sufficient for your communication exercising the right to cancel to be sent before the cancellation period expires.

Everest Clinic will not ordinarily begin supplying a chargeable service during the statutory cancellation period unless the Customer has expressly requested that the service should begin before the cancellation period has ended. Acceptance of these Terms alone will not be treated as an express request for Everest Clinic to begin supplying a service during the cancellation period.

If you would like Everest Clinic to begin the service before the cancellation period expires, we will ask you to make a separate express request. This may be provided electronically or in writing. You will find a template for the Express Request at Schedule 3, at the end of this Term.

 

Starting the service may include chargeable professional work forming part of the agreed service, such as clinical preparation, review or analysis of questionnaires or records, psychometric scoring, clinical consultation or another substantive part of the agreed service. Where you expressly request Everest Clinic to begin supplying the service during the cancellation period and subsequently cancel before the service has been fully performed, you may be required to pay a proportionate amount for the service properly supplied up to the time when you communicated your decision to cancel. Any remaining prepaid balance will be refunded in accordance with applicable law.

 

Where the service is fully performed during the cancellation period, the statutory right to cancel may be lost once the service has been fully performed where, before performance began, you expressly requested early performance and acknowledged that you would lose the right to cancel once the service had been fully performed.

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Where the law provides that no charge may be made for services supplied during the cancellation period because the required information or express request was not obtained, Everest Clinic will not seek to impose such a charge. If you cancel before the service has begun, payments made for the cancelled service will be refunded in full. Any refund required following exercise of the statutory cancellation right will be made without undue delay and, where the statutory 14-day reimbursement period applies, no later than 14 days after Everest Clinic is informed of your decision to cancel. Reimbursement will ordinarily be made using the same method of payment unless another method is expressly agreed and no fee will be imposed for making the reimbursement. Nothing in this Chapter limits your statutory consumer rights.

 

22. Appointment Cancellation, Rearrangement, Late Arrival and Non-Attendance

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Where a Customer validly exercises a statutory cancellation right under Chapter 21, the statutory cancellation provisions take priority over this Chapter to the extent of any inconsistency.

 

We aim to be reasonable and flexible when appointments need to be changed, while also recognising that clinicians reserve professional time for appointments and may undertake preparation in anticipation of them. We ask Customers to provide at least 48 hours' notice if an appointment needs to be cancelled or rearranged. Where less than 48 hours' notice is provided, or an appointment is missed without notice, Everest Clinic may charge a reasonable late-cancellation or non-attendance fee.

 

Where an appointment has a separately stated price, any late-cancellation or non-attendance fee will not exceed the price applicable to that appointment. Where an appointment forms part of an assessment package and does not have a separately stated appointment price, any such fee will not exceed the applicable clinical-hour rate disclosed to the Customer before the contract was formed. The amount actually charged will be reasonable and proportionate to the loss arising from the late cancellation or non-attendance. In deciding whether a charge should be made or reduced, Everest Clinic may take account of relevant circumstances including professional time that had been reserved, preparation already undertaken, unavoidable room, travel or third-party costs, costs that were avoided and whether the appointment could reasonably be reallocated. Everest Clinic will not recover twice for the same loss. A late-cancellation or non-attendance charge will not be imposed as an arbitrary financial penalty.

 

We recognise that genuine emergencies and exceptional circumstances occur. Everest Clinic may waive or reduce a late-cancellation or non-attendance fee where it is reasonable to do so in the individual circumstances.

 

Clients are asked to arrive no earlier than 10 minutes before and no later than 5 minutes after the agreed appointment time. Where a Client arrives late, the appointment may still need to finish at the originally scheduled time. Where significant lateness means that the appointment cannot be completed reliably, safely or in accordance with the requirements of the assessment procedure, all or part of the appointment may need to be rearranged. Where a charge is considered because significant lateness has resulted in an appointment being lost or requiring rearrangement, the same principles concerning reasonableness, proportionality and avoidance of double recovery set out above will apply.

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23. Withdrawal and Incomplete Clinical Services

 

A Customer or Client may choose to discontinue the Clinical Interview and Screening Service or an assessment before completion. Ending a service altogether is different from cancelling or rearranging an individual appointment while intending to continue the service, which is addressed in Chapter 22.

 

Where a withdrawal takes place during an applicable statutory cancellation period, Chapter 21 and the applicable statutory consumer cancellation rules will take priority to the extent that they apply. This Chapter principally addresses withdrawal from the Clinical Interview and Screening Service or an assessment where the statutory cancellation right no longer applies or has expired.

 

Everest Clinic will not automatically retain the whole fee merely because the service has begun. Where money has been paid in advance for work that will no longer be provided, the amount retained and any refund due will be based upon the fair value of professional work already properly completed and any unavoidable costs properly incurred in connection with the service.

 

Work already completed may include, where applicable, clinical preparation, review or analysis of pre-assessment questionnaires or screening information, review of records, clinical appointments, psychometric administration, scoring or interpretation, collateral-information review, communication with relevant informants or professionals, professional consultation, clinical integration, diagnostic consideration, formulation, report preparation already undertaken, reasonable clinical administration directly attributable to the service and unavoidable third-party costs.

 

The Clinical Interview and Screening Service and assessment packages include professional work undertaken both during and outside appointments. The value of work already completed will therefore not necessarily correspond solely to the number or duration of appointments attended.

 

Where the agreed service information identifies a price or value for particular stages or components of the service, those figures may be used when calculating the value of completed work. Where no separate stage or component price has been identified, Everest Clinic will make a reasonable and proportionate calculation having regard to the agreed price for the relevant service, the professional work actually completed and, where relevant, the clinical-hour rate disclosed before the contract was formed. The clinical-hour rate will not be applied in a way that causes Everest Clinic to retain more than the fair value reasonably attributable to work already completed under the agreed service.

 

Everest Clinic will not charge for professional work that has not been carried out or for future costs that can reasonably be avoided. No separate arbitrary withdrawal or termination penalty will be imposed. Any amount retained for work already completed will not exceed the amount reasonably attributable to that work within the agreed price for the service. The total amount charged for the contracted service will not exceed the agreed service price, except where the Customer has separately requested and agreed to additional chargeable work.

 

Where a late-cancellation or non-attendance fee has already been charged under Chapter 22, Everest Clinic will not also include the same loss in a subsequent withdrawal calculation in a manner that would result in double recovery.

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Sometimes the Clinical Interview and Screening Service or an assessment cannot be completed. This may occur where the Service User withdraws, consent is withdrawn, there is repeated non-attendance, essential information remains unavailable, significant validity concerns arise, information necessary for a reliable clinical conclusion cannot reasonably be obtained, parental-responsibility or consent issues remain unresolved, safeguarding concerns arise, another service needs to take clinical priority, or continuing the service would no longer be clinically appropriate.

 

Where reasonably possible, Everest Clinic will explain why the service cannot be completed, whether any clinical conclusion can safely be reached, whether another service is recommended and the financial implications. An incomplete service does not mean that professional work already properly completed has no value. Equally, Everest Clinic will not charge for future work it has decided not to provide unless there is a fair and lawful basis for doing so.

 

Where a refund is due under this Chapter, Everest Clinic will calculate and return the unused balance without undue delay once the work completed and any properly incurred costs have been established.

 

24. When a Service May Be Paused, Changed, Transferred or Ended

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Everest Clinic may need to pause, modify or discontinue a service where there is a genuine clinical, safeguarding, legal, professional, ethical, or safety reason. Examples may include where continuing is no longer clinically appropriate, the person's needs are outside the clinician's competence or scope, a conflict of interest develops, valid consent cannot be established, significant parental responsibility issues remain unresolved, assessment validity cannot reasonably be maintained, another service needs to take clinical priority, there is serious threatening, violent or unsafe behaviour, professional boundaries cannot safely be maintained, or significant fees remain unpaid despite reasonable attempts to resolve the position.

 

We will not rely upon this provision simply to end a contract arbitrarily. Where reasonably possible, we will: explain the reason, consider the Service User's clinical needs, consider reasonable adjustments, consider appropriate onward support and provide information about relevant next steps. Where a prepaid service is discontinued by Everest Clinic, any refund will fairly take account of work already supplied and work that will no longer be provided.

 

We will not treat difference itself as misconduct. Before restricting or ending a service on behavioural grounds, we will take reasonable account of disability, neurodivergence, communication needs, distress, reasonable adjustments and the seriousness and context of the behaviour. Serious threats, harassment, discriminatory abuse, violence or behaviour creating a significant safety risk may nevertheless justify proportionate action to protect Clients and staff.

 

Clinicians may occasionally become unavailable because of illness, emergency or another circumstance outside reasonable control. Where this happens, Everest Clinic may offer a rearranged appointment, another appropriately qualified clinician where clinically suitable, or another reasonable solution. Material changes will be discussed with the Client where appropriate. If we cannot provide a prepaid service and a reasonable alternative cannot be agreed, the unused part will be refunded.

 

If a Customer requests a material change to the agreed service, we will consider whether the change can reasonably be accommodated. A change may affect the clinical pathway, appointments, timescale, or price. Any additional charge will be explained and agreed before the Customer becomes liable for it.

 

A service may sometimes need to be transferred in whole or in part to another appropriately qualified clinician. Reasons may include illness, availability, specialist expertise, continuity of care, conflict of interest, or another clinical requirement. Where the identity of a particular clinician was material to the Customer's decision to purchase the service, we will take this into account when proposing a significant change.

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