Right to Choose

Help for Psychology has been commissioned by the Norfolk and Waveney ICB to provide autism, ADHD, and combined autism and ADHD assessments for children and young people between 6 and 18 years of age through the Right to Choose pathway.

You can refer through your GP to Help for Psychology whether you live within Norfolk and Waveney or outside of the area in another part of England. We outline the referral process, dependent on your location, further down on this page. If you live outside of Norfolk and Waveney, you will need to attend our Norwich clinic for the face-to-face element of the process.

What is Right to Choose?

The NHS Choice Framework gives all registered NHS patients within England* the legal right to choose the hospital or service provider to support their physical and/or mental health care. For example, if a GP refers someone for an ADHD or an autism assessment, that person can choose the provider that best suits their needs.

Right to Choose means you can decide which organisation will oversee your child’s care as long as they are located in England and fully qualified.

*There are some exceptions, which are listed below.

What is Right to Choose?

Right to Choose means you can decide which organisation will oversee your child’s care as long as they are located in England and fully qualified.

*There are some exceptions, which are listed below.

Right to Choose Exceptions

It is important to note that you cannot access Right to Choose if your child:

requires emergency treatment
is currently serving a prison sentence (including YOIs), or if they are on temporary release
serves in the armed forces (Note: People over the age of 16 can join the armed forces in the UK)
is detained in prescribed accommodation

has already received care and treatment for the condition (E.g. has already been formally assessed for autism or ADHD by the NHS)
is detained in a secure children’s home
is detained in a hospital under the Mental Health Act of 1983

Why Choose Help for Psychology?

Help for Psychology can provide autism, ADHD, and combined autism and ADHD assessments for children and young people up to the age of 18. We understand it can be difficult to find the right provider when looking for an autism or ADHD assessment for your child. Here is what we believe sets Help for Psychology apart from many other providers:

Experience

Our clinical team is very experienced in the area of autism and ADHD assessments and is led by our clinical director, who has several decades of experience working specifically in the area of autism and ADHD.

Behind the Mask

One reason some children are missed or misdiagnosed is because of their ability to mask or ‘camouflage’ their true selves. Therefore, many clinicians don’t provide a referral or a diagnosis, as the child doesn’t ‘tick the box’ in terms of how they present during an assessment. The team at Help for Psychology is very experienced in seeing ‘behind the mask’ when carrying out an assessment.

In-Person or Online?

Whilst some providers only offer online assessments, at Help for Psychology, we only offer face-to-face assessments (although developmental histories with parents can be done online). Face-to-face provides more opportunity to better understand the child we are assessing. Equally, if a child masks their presentation, face-to-face assessments are more useful in helping clinicians see ‘behind the mask’ and provide a more accurate diagnosis.

Experience

Behind the Mask

One reason some children are missed or misdiagnosed is their ability to mask or ‘camouflage’ their true self. Therefore, many clinicians don’t provide a referral or a diagnosis, as the child doesn’t ‘tick the box’ in terms of how they present during an assessment. The team at Help for Psychology is very experienced in seeing ‘behind the mask’ when carrying out an assessment.

In-Person or Online?

Learn More About Us

Steps to Referral via Right to Choose

For those who live in Norfolk and Waveney

Contact your GP

Advise your GP that you would like to be referred to Help for Psychology as part of the NHS’s Right to Choose framework*.

GP Refers You

The GP will then complete a referral form to send to us (this will need to be sent by your GP to [email protected]).

Submit Your Forms

Upon receipt of your referral, we will send you links to our screening and any relevant questionnaires.

Case Review

Upon receipt of the completed screening and questionnaires, the case will be reviewed. We will then inform you if the referral has been accepted.

Processing

Once a referral has been accepted, we will begin the process of booking an assessment.

*We are aware that, occasionally, GPs are not fully familiar with the ‘Right to Choose’ pathway. Indeed, you may even find that a few refuse to provide a referral. Should this be your experience, you can inform them that Help for Psychology is commissioned by Norfolk and Waveney ICB to provide Autism and ADHD assessments for children and young people up to the age of 18 as an NHS provider. You can also advise them that we are listed as a confirmed provider on the Knowledge Now website.

How to be referred via Right to Choose

For those who live outside of Norfolk and Waveney

For those who live outside of Norfolk and Waveney, you will need to complete our referral form and provide it to your GP:

Download PDF

Download and complete the relevant sections for you and your child.

To open and complete this form, you will need to download Adobe Acrobat or any other PDF editor of your choice.

Download PDF Form

How to be referred via Right to Choose

For those who live outside of Norfolk and Waveney

For those who live outside of Norfolk and Waveney, you will need to complete our referral form and provide it to your GP:

Download PDF

Download and complete the relevant sections for you and your child.

To open and complete this form, you will need to download Adobe Acrobat or any other PDF editor of your choice.

Download PDF Form

The Assessment Process

Once your referral has been accepted by Help for Psychology a member of the admin team will get in touch with you to arrange dates for the assessment. As our preference is to carry out the actual assessment of your child face-to-face you will be offered two appointments. The first will be for the one clinician to carry out a developmental history with the parent(s). This is generally carried out online via Google Meet. The second appointment will be carried out face-to-face at our Norwich clinic.

Prior to the visit, we will send you a ‘My Visit’ brochure for your child, so that they have a better understanding of what will happen on the day and who they will be seeing. We’ve had very positive feedback from parents in the past saying how useful these brochures are in helping their child become less anxious at the prospect of attending an assessment.

Once both elements have been completed, the multi-disciplinary team will have a post-assessment meeting to decide upon a diagnosis. You will then be contacted by a member of the clinical team with feedback on the outcome. The final step in the process is for the clinical team to write and provide a diagnostic report.

FAQs

How can I be referred under Right to Choose?

First you will need to contact your GP and request a referral under Right to Choose. If they agree that your child may be autistic, or have ADHD (or both), and need a formal assessment, you have the legal right to request a provider of your choice, such as Help for Psychology, to carry out the assessment.

Does Right to Choose only cover England?

Yes, unfortunately people living in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are not covered under Right to Choose, only those registered with a GP based in England.

What happens after my child’s assessment?

Following your child’s assessment, the assessing team will have a post-assessment meeting and decide if an autism and/or ADHD diagnosis is appropriate. They will then write a report.

The report will be sent securely via email (or by post if specifically requested) to you as the parent/guardian of the child. The outcome of the assessment will also be shared with your GP. Feedback on the assessment will also be given via your preferred method (i.e. face-to-face/video call).

If my child is diagnosed with ADHD are you able to prescribe medication?

If you live in the Norfolk and Waveney area, and your GP is also based in Norfolk and Waveney, we can offer initiation and titration of ADHD medication following assessment. However this is not something we can offer for people living outside the Norfolk and Waveney area.

Can I refer my child to you myself, and bypass my child’s GP?

Unfortunately no. To access a Right to Choose assessment your child’s GP must make the referral.

My child is already on an NHS waiting list for an assessment. Can I transfer them across to Right to Choose?

Yes, provided your child is registered with a GP in England, and that GP agrees to change the referral to a Right to Choose autism or ADHD assessment.

My GP has said Right to Choose is only for adults. Is this correct?

No, Right to Choose is available to both adults and children. However, each provider has a different contract(s), and what they can offer relates to their contract(s). Some providers, for example, can only offer adult autism assessments, others can only offer child autism assessments. Help for Psychology can offer autism, ADHD, and combined autism and ADHD assessments for children and young people between 6 and 18 years of age. At the moment we can’t offer assessments for adults under Right to Choose. (We can, however, offer private autism assessments for both adults and children and private ADHD assessments for children.)

My GP has told me that only providers with a contract with my local ICB can offer assessments via Right to Choose. Is that correct?

No, any provider who has a contract with one ICB based in England can offer Right to Choose across England. However, they can only offer the same service shown within their contract. So, if the contract is only for autism assessments for adults, that is all they can offer. They can’t offer ADHD assessments to any age group, nor autism assessments to children and young people (up to 18 years of age).

My child has already been assessed by the NHS, but did not receive a diagnosis due to school stating that they saw no issues with my child; but this is because my child masks at school. Are you able to reassess my child under Right to Choose?

Unfortunately, one of the exceptions under Right to Choose is that a person who has already been assessed by the NHS cannot access a further assessment under Right to Choose for the same condition. You would need to contact your local ICB to establish if there are any exceptions to this ruling. We are aware that many children ‘mask’ whilst at school, and our Clinical Director has written an article explaining how Autistic Masking can often impact the outcome of an assessment.

Do I have to pay to have my child assessed when using the Right to Choose service?

No, the Right to Choose service we offer is funded entirely by the NHS, so there is no cost to you.

Do you offer Right to Choose for autism and ADHD assessments?

Yes, we can offer an assessment for children and young people (between 6 to 18 years of age), for Autism, ADHD, and Autism and ADHD combined. Currently, we are unable to offer this service for Adults.

Recommended Reading

You may also be interested to know that our clinical director, Dr Judy Eaton, has written the following books on the subject of Autism:

Eaton-Autism-Missed-and-Misdiagnosed-1-1

Autism Missed and Misdiagnosed: Identifying, Understanding and Supporting Diverse Autistic Identities

by Dr Judy Eaton

Autism presents in a multitude of different and highly nuanced ways – particularly as it intersects with variance in class, gender, race and age.

Misunderstanding and misinformation around variant and differing presentations means that misdiagnosed individuals and those who do not receive a diagnosis at all are often failed by medical, education, social care and criminal justice systems. They are detained in inappropriate settings; don’t receive beneficial therapeutic input; have their families accused of fabricated or induced illness (FII); are kept in prison or youth offending institutions longer than their original tariffs, and shockingly their life expectancy is often curtailed as a result.

This comprehensive resource will help multidisciplinary professions to understand, contextualise, and better identify diverse autistic presentations. It includes an overview of the autism diagnostic process, an exploration of controversial and commonly confused diagnoses such as PDA, ODD, CD, ASPD, and BPD; discussions of best practice for investigating FII; and analysis of the specific challenges of autism diagnosis in relation to women and girls, BAME communities, schools, and the criminal justice system.

Autism Missed and Misdiagnosed amazon review

a guide to mental health issues in girls and young women on the autism spectrum book cover

A Guide to Mental Health Issues in Girls and Young Women on the Autism Spectrum: Diagnosis, Intervention and Family Support

by Dr Judy Eaton

This book addresses the specific mental health needs of girls and young women with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Looking at the ways autism presents differently in girls than in boys, and the mental health conditions that occur most frequently in girls with ASD, this is the essential guide for clinicians and educators on tailoring interventions and support to meet girls’ needs.

Describing the current assessment process for autism diagnosis, the book explains why girls are under- or mis-diagnosed, leading to later mental health issues. It outlines the types of intervention that are particularly helpful for working with girls to reduce anxiety, improve social interaction skills, and manage self-harm. The book also covers how to manage eating disorders and feeding difficulties, focusing on working with girls with sensory processing difficulties. There is advice on how to deal with the emotional impact on parents, carers and families, and the challenges they face when negotiating appropriate psychological and educational support.