Right to Choose for adult autism assessment

Under the NHS Constitution, every patient in England can choose the provider for their first outpatient appointment. Adult autism assessment falls under that right. You do not have to accept the long wait at your local NHS Autism Diagnostic Service. You can ask your GP to refer you, on the NHS and at no cost to you, to any provider that holds an NHS Standard Contract for adult autism assessment in your area.

The Right-to-Choose provider conducts the diagnostic process — typically a multi-stage assessment using ADOS-2 or similar validated instruments — and issues a formal diagnostic report. Unlike ADHD, there is no titration step after autism diagnosis: the report itself is the deliverable.

HospitalWaits V1 covers the 18 NHS specialties published in the monthly Referral-to-Treatment (RTT) dataset. Adult autism assessment sits outside that dataset and is not yet on our comparison tool. We will add mental-health pathway data in V2.

The legal mechanism, however, applies today. This page exists so the long-tail Right-to-Choose search lands somewhere useful instead of bouncing.

The following providers publicly hold NHS Standard Contracts for adult autism assessment in parts of England. We list them as factual examples, not endorsements. Coverage varies by ICB area — confirm with the provider directly before your GP submits the referral:

• Psychiatry-UK — NHS Right-to-Choose contract for adult autism assessment in most ICBs.
• Clinical Partners — adult autism assessment under NHS Standard Contract in selected areas.
• ProblemShared — NHS Right-to-Choose adult autism and ADHD provider in several ICBs.

Other providers exist. Ask each one to confirm in writing that your ICB is covered by their NHS Standard Contract before your GP submits the referral.

The wording below mirrors NHS England's own Patient Choice guidance and gives the GP the cleanest possible referral path:

“I would like to exercise my NHS Right to Choose for my first outpatient assessment. I've checked, and [Provider Name] holds an NHS Standard Contract for adult autism assessment in our ICB. Please refer me there via the NHS e-Referral Service.”

If the GP is unfamiliar with Right to Choose, point them to NHS England's Patient Choice guidance. The practice receives the same referral payment whether the provider is the local NHS trust or a Right-to-Choose provider.

An autism diagnosis from a Right-to-Choose provider carries the same NHS weight as one from a local NHS service. Your GP can use it for reasonable-adjustment requests, employer disclosure, university disability support, and PIP / Access to Work applications. The report itself is the deliverable — there is no follow-up prescribing pathway as there is with ADHD.

• The full Right to Choose explainer — covers the legal basis, when it applies, and when it doesn't.
• Right to Choose for adult ADHD assessment — adjacent pathway, similar mechanic.
• What to do if your GP refuses a Right-to-Choose referral.