NHS Right to Choose
Accessing Autism & ADHD
Assessments Through Right to
Choose
Under the NHS Choice Framework, if your GP refers you for specialist care — such as an autism or ADHD assessment — you have the legal right to choose your provider.
At National Neurodiversity Assessments, we offer:
Fully remote autism assessments for children (8 years+) and adults who are registered with a GP in any part of England.
Hybrid Autism assessments for children (2 years+) and adults who are registered with a GP in any part of England, but are willing to travel to Exeter for the in-person part of the assessment.
Hybrid Autism, ADHD and combined ASD/ADHD assessments for children and young people aged 6–18 years who are registered with a GP in any part of England, but are willing to travel to Norwich for the in-person part of the assessment.
Our hybrid assessments involve one face-to-face appointment in Norwich or Exeter, depending on the pathway you choose. Our clinics are conveniently located with train links and ample parking.
For fully remote assessments, all appointments will be online.
We do not currently prescribe ADHD medication, but can refer you on to a suitable service if required.
You can download information leaflets about the Right to Choose process (including your patient rights) and our assessments on our resources page.
NHS Funded
Assessment Process
The NHS-funded Right to Choose pathway, step by step.
1
Step 1: GP Referral
Ask your GP to complete a Right to Choose referral to our service.
Once we receive your referral, we'll review the information provided and confirm whether we can accept the referral under the NHS Right to Choose pathway.
Please note that waiting times may vary depending on local Integrated Care Board (ICB) funding arrangements and referral volumes.
An ADHD Assessment
An Autism Assessment
A Combined ADHD & Autism Assessment
2
Step 2: Getting to Know You
Before your assessment, we'll gather information to help us understand your strengths, experiences, and day-to-day functioning across different settings.
This may include:
Questionnaires
Information from parents, carers, partners, schools, colleges, or other professionals
Supporting documents and reports
A Creyos online cognitive assessment (for ADHD and Combined Assessments)
3
Step 3: Assessment, Diagnosis & Report
The assessment process varies depending on whether you are having an ADHD Assessment, Autism Assessment, or Combined Assessment.
ADHD Assessment
Our aim is to understand your unique profile and how ADHD traits may shape your experiences, helping to identify any support, adjustments, or recommendations that may be beneficial.
Our clinicians take the time to build a detailed understanding of how you think, focus, and navigate daily life. The assessment explores:
Your developmental history and life experiences
Attention, concentration, activity levels, and impulsivity
Thinking styles, strengths, challenges, and support needs
Experiences at home, in education, at work, and in everyday life
Information from questionnaires and Creyos results (where applicable)
Autism Assessment
Our aim is to understand your unique profile and how autistic traits may shape your experiences.
Our clinicians take the time to build a detailed understanding of how you experience and navigate the world. The assessment explores:
Your developmental history and life experiences
Social communication and relationships
Sensory preferences, sensitivities, and experiences
Thinking styles, interests, and ways of processing information
Personal strengths, challenges, and support needs
Experiences at home, in education, at work, and in everyday life
Combined ADHD & Autism Assessment
A combined assessment integrates both the ADHD and autism assessment processes into a single pathway.
This enables our clinicians to understand your unique neurodevelopmental profile while reducing the need for multiple assessments and repeated sharing of your history.
Diagnostic Outcome & Report
Following your assessment, our clinicians review all information to develop a comprehensive understanding of your experiences, strengths, and support needs, and consider whether the diagnostic criteria for ADHD, Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), or both are met.
You'll receive a detailed diagnostic report that includes:
A summary of the assessment findings
Your diagnostic outcome
An overview of your strengths and support needs
Personalised recommendations, reasonable adjustments, and next steps
4
Step 4: Understanding Your Profile
Following your assessment, we'll provide personalised feedback and psychoeducation to help you understand your profile and what the findings mean for you.
Together, we'll explore:
Strengths
Differences and challenges
Sensory needs
Executive functioning
Communication preferences
Practical strategies
Support needs across home, education, work, and everyday life
5
Step 5: Personalised Recommendations & Support
We'll work with you to identify the support, strategies, and next steps that best align with your goals, strengths, preferences, and support needs.
ADHD Support
Depending on your needs, support may include:
ADHD coaching
Medication assessment and titration
ADHD-focused psychoeducation
Recommendations for school, college, university, or the workplace
Follow-up reviews and ongoing support
Autism Support
Depending on your needs, support may include:
Autism coaching
Parent and family guidance
Autism-focused psychoeducation
Sensory and environmental recommendations
Recommendations for school, college, university, or the workplace
Signposting to local and national support services
Ongoing Support Available to All Clients
Where medication is prescribed, we'll work with your GP to explore Shared Care arrangements where appropriate, or continue prescribing through our service when required.
We offer a range of resources and follow-up support to help you put recommendations into practice and access appropriate support.
Educational resources and webinars
Follow-up consultations
Practical strategies and guidance
Recommendations for reasonable adjustments
NHS Funded
Assessment Process
The NHS-funded Right to Choose pathway, step by step.
NHS Right to Choose referrals follow a slightly different process — see the Right to Choose pathway.
1
Step 1: GP Referral
Ask your GP to complete a Right to Choose referral to our service.
Once we receive your referral, we'll review the information provided and confirm whether we can accept the referral under the NHS Right to Choose pathway.
Please note that waiting times may vary depending on local Integrated Care Board (ICB) funding arrangements and referral volumes.
2
Step 2: Getting to Know You
We'll ask you to complete questionnaires and provide additional information to help us understand your experiences and support needs.
Depending on age and circumstances, we may also request information from parents, carers, schools, colleges, partners, or other professionals.
3
Step 3: Assessment & Diagnosis
You'll meet with our clinical team for your assessment either in-person or online.
ADHD Assessment
Our clinicians will complete a comprehensive assessment to understand your experiences and explore whether ADHD may explain some of the differences you experience in everyday life.
The assessment considers:
Your developmental history
Attention, concentration, activity levels, and impulsivity
Strengths, challenges, and support needs
Experiences at home, in education, at work, and in daily life
Information from questionnaires and Creyos results (where applicable)
Autism Assessment
Our clinicians will complete a comprehensive assessment to understand your experiences and explore whether ADHD may explain some of the differences you experience in everyday life.
The assessment considers:
Your developmental history
Social communication and relationships
Sensory experiences
Thinking styles and interests
Strengths, challenges, and support needs
Experiences at home, in education, at work, and in daily life
Combined ADHD & Autism Assessment
A combined assessment brings together both the ADHD and autism assessment processes in a single pathway.
Our clinicians will explore your developmental history, experiences, strengths, challenges, and support needs to understand how ADHD and autistic traits may shape your day-to-day life.
This approach provides a comprehensive understanding of your individual profile while avoiding the need for separate assessments.
Diagnostic Outcome & Report
Following your assessment, our assessors will review all available information and consider whether the diagnostic criteria for ADHD, Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), or both are met.
You'll receive a diagnostic report that includes:
A summary of the assessment findings
Your diagnostic outcome
An overview of strengths and support needs
Recommendations and next steps
4
Step 4: Understanding the Outcome
We'll explain the assessment findings and what they mean for you, including any diagnosis where applicable.
You'll have the opportunity to ask questions, explore recommendations, and discuss support options and next steps.
5
Step 5: Next Steps
We'll discuss the recommendations arising from your assessment and help you identify any support, resources, or adjustments that may be helpful.
Where appropriate, this may include:
Information and educational resources
Recommendations for support in school, college, university, or the workplace
Advice and recommendations for your GP
Information about relevant local and national services
Information about ADHD medication options (where appropriate)
For GPs
Information for GPs
How to Refer your Patient
First, please make sure you have read and understood the acceptance and exclusion criteria.
If you are a GP within Norfolk and Waveney ICB, please complete this referral form and email it to us at rtcreferral.nna@nhs.net.
GPs in other areas can refer to us through eRS or complete this referral form (child) or this referral form (adult) and email it to us at rtcreferral.nna@nhs.net.
On receipt of your referral, we will email you with confirmation that your referral has been received. If your ICB is outside of Norfolk and Waveney or Devon, we must first seek funding approval from your local ICB.
We will then make contact with your patient to gather consent and information to start the assessment process. Our timeframe for assessment depends on ICB funding. We will assess your patient as soon as we are able. Following the MDT (Multidisciplinary Team) review, a detailed diagnostic report will be finalised and sent to you.
Which Assessment Pathway Should You Choose?
Unfortunately, we are unable to conduct NHS autism or ADHD assessments for children under the age of 2 years.
We are not able to conduct ADHD assessments for children under the age of 6 years.
Before a young child can be referred for an autism assessment with National Neurodiversity Assessments, they must first be seen by a community paediatrician. Diagnosing autism in very young children can be difficult, and other conditions may look similar. To make sure everything is checked properly, all children aged 2–5 years must have a community paediatrician review before they can be referred.
If the community paediatrician rules out other conditions and thinks an autism assessment is needed, your patient can then be referred to National Neurodiversity Assessments. You will need to make this referral using the Hybrid Devon pathway, which requires your patient to attend one in-person appointment in Devon.
We are not able to conduct ADHD assessments for children under the age of 6 years.
For an autism assessment, the right option for your patient is an autism assessment with an in-person observation in Devon.
You need to refer to our 'Hybrid Devon' pathway.
For an autism assessment, the right option for your patient is an autism assessment with an in-person observation in Devon or Norwich.
For an ADHD or combined autism and ADHD assessment, the right option is an ADHD / combined assessment with an in-person observation in Norwich.
Option 1 — Hybrid Devon pathway (autism assessments only).
Option 2 — Hybrid Norfolk pathway (autism, ADHD or combined autism & ADHD assessments).
Does your patient have a learning disability, a speech and language disorder, or selective mutism? Children with any of these needs must have an in-person observation — choose either the Hybrid Devon or Hybrid Norfolk pathway.
If your patient does not have a learning disability, speech and language disorder, or selective mutism, they can have their autism assessment remotely (Fully Remote) or through any hybrid pathway.
Please note: ADHD assessments are only available through the Hybrid Norfolk pathway.
Option 1 — Fully Remote (autism assessments only).
Option 2 — Hybrid Devon (autism assessments only).
Option 3 — Hybrid Norfolk (autism and ADHD assessments).
We are not able to conduct ADHD assessments for adults under Right to Choose at this time. We can offer adult autism assessments in Devon and fully remote.
Does your patient have a learning disability, a speech and language disorder or selective mutism? A person with any of these needs requires an in-person observation session — select our 'Hybrid Devon' pathway.
If your patient does not have a learning disability, speech and language disorder or selective mutism, they can have an autism assessment through our 'Fully Remote' or 'Hybrid Devon' pathway.
Current ICB Information
NHS Right to Choose Booking Updates
We know that waiting for an ADHD or autism assessment can be difficult, and we want to be as transparent as possible about our NHS Right to Choose waiting list.
While we accept referrals from across England, local NHS Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) may sometimes place restrictions on when providers can offer appointments in their area. These decisions are made by local NHS commissioners and can affect booking availability and waiting times.
Any ICB-specific booking updates will be provided on our Resources Page. Appointments are offered in referral date order within each assessment pathway.