Right to Choose: NHS assessment in England

If you live in England and your GP refers you for an ADHD assessment, you usually get a say in where you go. In most cases, you have a legal right to choose which mental health service provider you go to for your first appointment. The NHS calls it the Right to Choose scheme.

It can widen your options, and knowing how it works can make the GP appointment feel a little more manageable.

What the right covers

The NHS Choice Framework, from the Department of Health and Social Care, sets it out. If you’re referred to a mental health professional, you can decide which provider you would like to receive care from as an outpatient, and choose the clinical team who will be in charge of your care.

It applies at the point of referral, and only to providers that have an NHS contract for the service you need. That can include private clinics: the NHS says you can ask for an NHS appointment at any clinic, including a private clinic, if it provides ADHD services for the NHS in England.

There are exceptions. The right doesn’t apply if you need urgent, emergency or crisis treatment, if you’re a serving member of the armed forces, or in a few other situations the NHS lists.

How people usually ask

It starts with a GP appointment. The NHS says the GP will ask about your symptoms and how they affect your life, and may then decide to refer you for an assessment with a mental health professional specialising in ADHD.

If you’re referred, you’re meant to be offered a choice at the point of referral, with an opportunity to discuss the options with the person referring you. The GP selects the shortlist, so the NHS suggests telling them about your preferences during the appointment. If you’ve read about a particular clinic, that’s the moment to mention it. The appointment can then be booked through the NHS e-Referral Service, at the surgery or online.

If you’d like to look before the appointment, NHS England notes that you can compare information about hospitals, services and consultants on the NHS website. And if a long list of options feels like a lot, there’s help with that too. If choosing is hard because of a disability, a mental health condition or any other impairment, the Choice Framework says to talk to the healthcare professional that referred you. They will make sure your additional needs are considered.

Clinics aren’t all the same. Some offer more after an assessment than others. NHS England’s guidance to local health services asks GPs to explain which providers are available and what each service can deliver. If you’re diagnosed, the NHS says the specialist will talk to you about what this means and what will happen next. So a few questions, written down before you go, can help: what happens after the assessment, who you’d see for support or treatment, and when they could offer you an appointment.

If you don’t feel you were offered a choice, the NHS says to speak to the person who is referring you first. If that doesn’t resolve it, you can complain to your local integrated care board (ICB). ICBs are the organisations responsible for organising most NHS services in each area of England.

What has changed recently

Waiting times vary, and Right to Choose may help you find a clinic with a shorter waiting list.

In October 2025, NHS England told local NHS organisations they can agree or set an Indicative Activity Plan with each provider, and manage how much NHS work it does against that plan. In plain terms, how much NHS work a clinic takes on may be planned and managed by the local NHS, so what it can offer you may change. Asking the clinic, or your GP, where things stand right now gives you a more up-to-date picture than anything you read online.

The right itself is still there. The NHS website, last reviewed in May 2026, still describes choosing your provider for a first appointment as a legal right.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

Right to Choose is part of the NHS in England. The NHS Choice Framework, which sets out this right, applies to England. If you live in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, it doesn’t apply. Your GP can explain how ADHD referrals work where you live.

General information, not medical advice. Talk to your prescriber or doctor about your own treatment. How we write

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