The national NHS Choice Framework gives all NHS patients in England the legal ‘right to choose’ (RTC) the service that provides their healthcare. It is a relatively new option in neurodevelopment and as such not all patients, GPs or other clinicians are aware of it and how it works.
 

Referral process

To go through the Right to Choose pathway, you will first need to speak to at GP at your practice about why you think your child or young person has ADHD or autism. It might be helpful to provide observations and information in writing. This could include letters from the SENCO or school. The GP then needs to agree the clinical appropriateness to make a referral for an assessment to the provider of your choice.

This would also be a good opportunity to discuss the benefits and disadvantages of choosing a private provider through the NHS. Right to Choose may not be the most appropriate solution for some people, depending on type of need or circumstance. It is important to make an informed decision. 

Should you decide to proceed, the GP would then complete the referral to your chosen provider. The provider will then contact yourself.  

 

Choosing a provider

NHS South Yorkshire ICB is not able to provide recommendations about which provider you should choose with your GP under an NHS Choice pathway. We do not hold a list of private providers across the country. However, there are restrictions on who can provide your care, which you should be considered. For a provider to provide assessment and care under right to choose they must have:

  • a commissioning contract with any Integrated Care Board or NHS England for the required service
  • a service and team led by a consultant or a mental health professional
  • a CQC-regulated service. This may be confirmed by searching the full list of services CQC regulate at: https://www.cqc.org.uk

The reviewing guidance from ADHD charities/organisations below may be helpful in deciding on a provider. However, please note the ICB cannot guarantee the accuracy of the information on these websites.

 

What you need to do

  • Check if the Right to Choose Provider/s can prescribe ADHD medication under NHS funding.  Some providers offer a diagnosis only service, which would mean that if you then needed medication this would not be covered by the service.  You would need to pay for this privately or look at a re-referral to an NHS service for medication (subject to waiting lists).  Therefore, most people would look to be referred to a Right to Choose provider that offers diagnostic assessment, medication initiation/titration, and the shared care with the GP post diagnosis.
  • Confirm with your GP whether they will accept the diagnosis and shared care arrangements for medication (if this is prescribed) from the selected Right to Choose provider (If the GP won’t do this, this is likely to mean you will have to to pay for private follow-up care).
  • Check if the Right to Choose Provider/s will agree to local shared care arrangements. Your GP can confirm what these are.

 

Medication for ADHD from private diagnosis

It is important that if you receive a private diagnosis which includes medication for ADHD, you know how you will receive ongoing prescriptions and review. This means that if you seek assessment through Right to Choose, there is an agreement for once the private aftercare is completed, or medication levels have been stabilised that the ongoing prescription can be managed by your GP and reviewed by the NHS service.

ADHD medication is specialist which means it requires ongoing review from an appropriate professional (such as clinical psychologist). Therefore, unless your Right to Choose provider offers ongoing shared care, your GP may be unwilling to prescribe due to insufficient clinical oversight of the drug and its effectiveness.

 

Useful resources while waiting for diagnosis