Right To Choose NHS

[Lookingforlove2022]

Hello,

We are based in the South and the waiting list for CAMHS is a year but it’s probably going to be more like two years, I need a diagnosis for my nine year old son for Autism and ADHD.

Is using the right to choose pathway on the NHS worth it? If so doesn’t anyone have experience and how long did you wait?

If you Google right to choose you can find a list of all providers together with their waiting times and whether they accept children or not.

Some areas of the country have also started capping the number of right to choose referrals which will be funded annually which will also have an impact.

I've ended up paying for my DD in the end after our right to choose got delayed due to the funding cap.

But. I would say that 2 years is not bad at all. It's 5+ here for NHS.

Hello, we were in a very similar position and decided to use the Right to Choose pathway rather than waiting years through CAMHS. We went with Autism Detect for our son’s autism assessment and the process was much quicker than our local waiting list. From referral to assessment it was only a few months for us, although waiting times can vary.

It was definitely worth it in our experience because it helped us access support much sooner instead of feeling stuck on a long waiting list. I’d recommend asking your GP about Right to Choose and checking which providers they’re happy to refer to.