Desperate for help - Right to Choose?

Hello,

My fiancé, 32m, and I, 32f, have long suspected he is autistic. His parents, who are both teachers by profession, admit that they were told by his school teachers that he was likely on the spectrum, but did not follow up on getting a diagnosis or support.

My fiancé is finding life as an autistic adult increasingly difficult, and his mental health is not great as a result.

We recently saw the GP who referred my fiancé for an autism assessment. After completing the initial questions, he received an email saying that he is now on the waiting list to be properly assessed. The wait time is 2 years. I know this is standard, but we desperately need support for him and I believe a formal diagnosis will help us to access this.

We mentioned Right to Choose to the GP, which he said ‘might work’, but gave us no further information on how to pursue this. We cannot afford a private assessment at this time.

Can anyone advise on how to start the Right to Choose process? Who do we speak to? Where do we apply?

I would be so grateful for any advice.

Parents

Bunny 21 hours ago

Hi and welcome to the community.

Your GP is responsible for referring your partner to an approved RTC provider if he requests that pathway, rather than being assessed directly by an NHS team.

There's more information here:

NAS - How to request an autism assessment > What is Right to Choose?

This NHS article lists some providers (towards the bottom of the page) and also explains the process in more detail, including covering some frequently asked questions:

NHS Sussex - NHS Right to Choose: for autism and ADHD assessment

By way of a specific example of a provider, several of us here were assessed via RTC by Psychiatry-UK. They currently indicate a 5-6 month waiting time after a GP referral via RTC. Again, this page explains more about their process - other providers may differ:

Psychiatry-UK - Right to Choose Autism Assessment

dsv2202 said:
we desperately need support for him and I believe a formal diagnosis will help us to access this.

The NAS explains that "A formal diagnosis is often not required to access support, however this will depend on the kind of support that may be needed" - you might find the advice here helpful:

NAS - What can I do while waiting for an autism assessment? > Can I get support while waiting to be assessed?

More generally, there's a lot of additional information and advice in the NAS's Diagnosis hub that you might both find helpful.
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dsv2202 2 hours ago in reply to Bunny

Thanks for this. The GP we saw didn’t seem to take our RTC request seriously. He sort of waved his hand and said ‘that might work’ and changed the subject totally. I feel quite annoyed now knowing the RTC referral is his responsibility.
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dsv2202 2 hours ago in reply to Bunny

Thanks for this. The GP we saw didn’t seem to take our RTC request seriously. He sort of waved his hand and said ‘that might work’ and changed the subject totally. I feel quite annoyed now knowing the RTC referral is his responsibility.
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Children

Bunny 43 minutes ago in reply to dsv2202

You're most welcome, and I'm sorry you had that experience.

My own GP didn't mention RTC. I spent two years on the NHS waiting list - with much longer to go, and with my mental health deteriorating even further as a direct result of the wait - before I even learned about that pathway.

It was an NHS psychologist who suggested it to me, during a medication review. After asking my GP to re-refer me, I was then assessed and diagnosed via RTC within just a few months. I can't tell you how much I wish I'd known about RTC at the very beginning.
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