Re diagnosis or Removal

You'd need to get a second opinion from a psychiatrist. This may be done in your local NHS service, or they may have to refer to to a different service elsewhere.

There is no legal entitlement to a second opinion, but NHS guidance says you should generally always be able to have one, as does GMC guidance. My local NHS mental health service actually has a written policy on second opinions, which practically guarantees your right to one. You may want to check the websites for your local NHS services to see if such a policy exists.

This page from the Patients Association is worth a read: https://www.patients-association.org.uk/getting-a-second-opinion

Note that it may not be possible to completely remove the old diagnosis from your records. Unless you could show that the old one was completely wrong (possibly through negligence), and not just a difference of opinion. This is because the medical record is a historical record and the original doctor still saw you, and made a diagnosis. This happened, and the past cannot be changed. However any new diagnosis should certainly supersede any old diagnosis.

Best place to start would be to see a GP and tell them you want a second opinion.

If you want to consider seeing someone private, I'd be interested to see how that goes, as there are a lot of clinics which specialise in diagnosing autism, but none that specialise in un-diagnosing it!

Good luck, and please let us know how you get on. I would actually like a second opinion on my Aspergers Syndrome diagnosis, as whether I have AS or not, I have suffered far more from the diagnosis itself and subsequent depression. If it turns out I do have Aspergers, then fine. But I'm not satisfied that I ever had anything wrong with me in the first place. I finally registered with a GP a few months ago, but haven't got round to making an appointment yet.

You'd need to get a second opinion from a psychiatrist. This may be done in your local NHS service, or they may have to refer to to a different service elsewhere.

There is no legal entitlement to a second opinion, but NHS guidance says you should generally always be able to have one, as does GMC guidance. My local NHS mental health service actually has a written policy on second opinions, which practically guarantees your right to one. You may want to check the websites for your local NHS services to see if such a policy exists.

This page from the Patients Association is worth a read: https://www.patients-association.org.uk/getting-a-second-opinion

Note that it may not be possible to completely remove the old diagnosis from your records. Unless you could show that the old one was completely wrong (possibly through negligence), and not just a difference of opinion. This is because the medical record is a historical record and the original doctor still saw you, and made a diagnosis. This happened, and the past cannot be changed. However any new diagnosis should certainly supersede any old diagnosis.

Best place to start would be to see a GP and tell them you want a second opinion.

If you want to consider seeing someone private, I'd be interested to see how that goes, as there are a lot of clinics which specialise in diagnosing autism, but none that specialise in un-diagnosing it!

Good luck, and please let us know how you get on. I would actually like a second opinion on my Aspergers Syndrome diagnosis, as whether I have AS or not, I have suffered far more from the diagnosis itself and subsequent depression. If it turns out I do have Aspergers, then fine. But I'm not satisfied that I ever had anything wrong with me in the first place. I finally registered with a GP a few months ago, but haven't got round to making an appointment yet.