Why Doesn’t My GP Understand ADHD & What’s Really Happening in the 10-Minute Appointment

If you've ever left a GP appointment feeling dismissed, confused or like you had to fight to be taken seriously, this episode will help you understand why, and what you can actually do about it.

On this week's episode of The ADHD Women's Wellbeing Podcast, I'm joined by Dr Victoria Galvis, a GP based in Greater Manchester with over 20 years of lived experience of neurodivergence and a fierce passion for changing how the healthcare system supports neurodivergent people.

Victoria qualified as a doctor in Colombia and has been practising in the UK since 2010, working across both hospital medicine and primary care. Alongside Dr Safiya Virji, GP and Associate Professor at Queen Mary University of London, she has written Neurodivergence in Primary Care: A Practical Guide for UK Healthcare Professionals, a comprehensive, research-backed resource designed to educate clinicians and support patients in navigating the system more effectively.

In this episode, Victoria explains the structural reasons why GPs often don't know enough about ADHD and neurodivergence, and it is not as simple as them not caring. She talks about the discrimination she faced as a neurodivergent doctor, why the 10-minute consultation is both a challenge and something patients can learn to work with, and how the book came about from 20 years of clinical experience and a determination to change things for her son, her patients and the next generation of healthcare professionals.

In this episode, we cover:

Why GPs receive less than two hours of ADHD training and have zero budget to update their knowledge

How media narratives and ableist assumptions about ADHD have shaped clinical attitudes

Victoria's own experience of disability discrimination as a neurodivergent doctor, and why she kept going

Why ADHD and autism could not even be co-diagnosed until 2013, and what that means for the doctors currently practising

How the 10-minute GP consultation works, and practical ways to make the most of it

Why bringing a list to a GP appointment is genuinely helpful, not annoying

How to ask for the right GP in your practice for your specific needs

When and how to share your own research with your doctor, and how most GPs actually receive it

Why executive dysfunction affects how patients experience healthcare at every stage

The importance of bringing someone with you, recording the appointment or using other memory tools

Why most mental health presentations in primary care have a deep-rooted neurodivergent component

Kate and Victoria's grassroots idea for getting this book into every GP surgery

Timestamps:

00:00 - Welcome and introducing Dr Victoria Galvis

02:00 - Victoria's ADHD diagnosis at 19 and her early career in the UK

05:00 - The discrimination she faced as a neurodivergent doctor and why she fought back

09:00 - Why GPs don't know more about ADHD, and why it is not their fault

13:00 - Zero training budget, no CPD funding and what that means in practice

16:00 - Why most mental health presentations have a neurodivergent component

19:00 - How the 10-minute consultation works from the doctor's side

23:00 - Practical tips for making the most of your GP appointment

28:00 - How to share your own research with your GP and what to expect

32:00 - When to ask for a follow-up, and why you should book with the right person

36:00 - How the book came about, and what it covers

40:00 - Kate and Victoria's grassroots idea: getting the book into every GP surgery

43:00 - How to get the book and where to find Victoria

Links and Resources:

Find my popular ADHD Women's Wellbeing workshops and resources on my website ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠.

Connect with the podcast on Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠@adhd_womenswellbeing_pod⁠⁠⁠

Get my book, The ADHD Women's Wellbeing Toolkit (also available in ebook and audiobook) ⁠⁠⁠here

Join the More Yourself membership community ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠

Visit Victoria's website: victoriagalvis.com

Get the book: Neurodivergence in Primary