Right to Choose for an adult autism assessment

What Right to Choose is

When a GP refers you to a mental health service in England, you usually have a legal right to choose which organization provides your first appointment, as long as it holds an NHS contract for that service. Autism assessment falls under this right, which is why it has become a common way for adults to reach a provider other than their local team.

Who can use it

• You are registered with a GP practice in England.
• You are not a serving member of the armed forces.
• You are not a prisoner or detained in other prescribed accommodation.
• You are not detained under the Mental Health Act.
• The referral is not an onward referral within a service already treating you for the same condition, and is not urgent or emergency care.

How to ask your GP, step by step

1. Book an appointment and explain that you would like a referral for an adult autism assessment.
2. Say at the same appointment that you want to use your Right to Choose, before the referral is sent anywhere.
3. You can ask your GP which assessment services they are able to refer you to. Referrers are asked to offer around five options where practical.
4. Give the GP the provider's referral details. Many providers publish a referral form or process for GPs.
5. Ask for a copy of the referral and note the date it was sent.
6. Contact the provider after a couple of weeks to confirm they received it and to check what happens next.

Some GP practices are unfamiliar with Right to Choose for autism, and some providers need extra forms. Polite persistence and clear paperwork usually solve this. Bringing a printed note that names the provider and states you are exercising your legal right to choose can help a busy GP act quickly.

How to check a provider before choosing

SpectrumFox does not recommend individual providers. Instead, here are the questions that separate a sound choice from a risky one.

Right to Choose or paying privately?

Both routes can shorten a wait, but they differ in important ways. A Right to Choose assessment is NHS funded and the report goes into your NHS record through your GP, which makes later recognition by NHS and council services straightforward. A private assessment costs you money and may be faster, but local services sometimes question reports from providers they do not know. If cost is the barrier, Right to Choose is usually worth trying first.

Right to Choose waiting times

Waits differ from provider to provider and change over time, sometimes sharply when a provider becomes popular. Treat any figure you read online as out of date until the provider confirms it to you directly. Ask for the current estimate in writing, and ask whether it covers only the assessment or also the report.

If your GP or ICB refuses

You should be offered a choice at the point of referral. If you were not, or your request was refused, there is a clear escalation route.

1. Speak to the person who made or declined the referral and ask for their reasons.
2. If that does not resolve it, complain to your integrated care board (ICB), which must make sure patients are offered choices.
3. If the ICB cannot resolve it, you can take the complaint to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.

• Getting an adult autism diagnosis in the UKHow adults get an autism diagnosis in the UK: GP referral, NICE and SIGN guidance, Right to Choose in England, private routes and four-nation differences.
• How an NHS autism assessment works for adultsHow an NHS adult autism assessment works step by step: GP referral, screening, the adult autism team, informants, the report, and options if you disagree.
• NHS autism assessment waiting lists: what to expect and what to doWhy NHS adult autism waiting lists are long, what the NICE 3-month standard says, how Right to Choose waits compare, and what you can do while you wait.
• Private autism assessment for adults in the UKHow private adult autism assessment works in the UK: what drives the cost, how to check a provider, whether the NHS will accept it, and what to ask first.
• How to ask your doctor for an autism referralHow to talk to your GP or primary care doctor about an adult autism assessment: what to say, what to bring, sample wording, and what to do if they say no.
• Online autism assessments for adultsHow online autism assessments for adults work: video sessions, licensing and PSYPACT, what can and cannot be done remotely, and how to choose carefully.