The lead story · Routes to assessment
NHS Right to Choose: the legal route many UK adults are never told about
Waiting lists for an adult ADHD assessment now run to years in parts of England. A patient choice rule, set out in NHS guidance, can open a different door. Here is how it works, and what it does not promise.
If you have started reading about ADHD assessment in the UK, you have probably met the same wall everyone meets: waits measured in years, private quotes measured in hundreds of pounds, and very little plain explanation of what sits in between.
Patients in England have a legal right to choose their provider for many elective referrals. For some adults that includes an ADHD assessment, on the NHS, with a provider you help choose. It is not a loophole and it is not a guarantee, but it is a real route that is widely under-explained.
We set out who it applies to, the role your GP plays, and the honest limits, including the medication shortages affecting people after diagnosis. Diagnosis itself is always a matter for a qualified clinician; this is information to help you have the right conversation.