Right to choose advice

[midnightreign]

DD7 is on the waiting list for an ASD assessment and has been for nearly a year. I’ve recently been told about right to choose and having been looking into it but becoming quite overwhelmed with knowing what provider to choose.
Could anyone recommend one? We’re in Hertfordshire if that helps. I also think she needs an ADHD assessment so if there’s anywhere that could do both.
Thank you in advance x

You could look at Dr Judy Eaton at Help for Psychology.

Thank you, I will have a look

Psicon are great. Not sure if it’s a bit far for you though? They’re in Canterbury and Basingstoke but take referrals from anywhere in England.

Thank you! I did come across their website, how was your experience with them? I’m willing to travel so don’t mind too much about the distance.

Google and the phone here are your friend. Waiting times for each provider change almost daily. Most will do both ASD and ADHD and most will do online or phone assessments, so you can choose pretty much anyone nationwide. You just need to Google or phone several nationwide and find the one with the shortest waiting list. They all usually have a self assessment form on their website that you fill out and then forward to your GP with a request to refer asap for assessment. The large right to choose providers have a huge number of staff, so personal recommendations are maybe not that helpful, as you won't know who you get. Most assessments are not done anymore by psychiatrists, but by all kind of mental health workers and AI. They still qualify under the NHS Nice guidelines.

Hi OP I am also in Hertfordshire and waiting for an neuro assessment of my DS6. GP has referred us to Psicon and we've just completed their forms; I have no idea what happens next or what the timeline is. How did you get on in the end, did you get an assessment for your DD?

@jumpintheline I ended up going with KT healthcare and my DD has since received an autism diagnosis. From referral to diagnosis took 3 months and they were brilliant. Once my GP had referred her they sent me a questionnaire to fill out and we waited around 5-6 weeks before they contacted me for an appointment. You could always contact Psicon and ask roughly what their waiting times are and what their process is.

Had you been referred through the nhs already? We were and after DD received a diagnosis through right to choose, I got a call to attend a pre assessment appointment through nhs (15 months after referral) the dr we saw was lovely and after reading the report from KT healthcare and speaking to me and DD, they said they will also provide us with a diagnosis report so am just waiting for that. He said if we hadn’t received a diagnosis already it would have taken another 18 months for the next appointment so I’m glad I went down the right to choose pathway!