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NHS Right to Choose - Central East

Goldfinch

Hi everyone,

I have been on a waiting list for an assessment for a couple of months, originally informed this would be about 6 months.

All of my initial tests and questionnaires are complete, so I'm just playing the waiting game.

I received a letter from my provider today informing me that the NHS Central East Integrated Care Team (ICB) have paused all funding for assessments immediately. 

"Due to high demand for autism and ADHD assessments and wider NHS budgets, we are unable to proceed with routine new assessments for patients referred through the Right to Choose pathway in your area. This is because funding arrangements for these assessments are currently under review by the ICB. As a result, you will remain on our waiting list until we receive further confirmation regarding future funding and service capacity".

Does anyone have any experience of what this means in practice - when is this generally reviewed? How long will the additional wait be? Do I move to the bottom of the waiting list, or rise to the top as soon as funding becomes available?

In my professional experience of budgets, this generally refreshes at the start of the next financial year in April - does this mean the 2026/27 budget has already maxed out (In August!) and therefore won't be reviewed until April 2027?

I'm extremely apprehensive about this, and am considering taking myself off the waiting list and going private given the now open-ended timescales.

Parents

  • Sorry to hear of your disappointment. 

    My situation was similar but not quite the same as yours. I was on an NHS waiting list and the waiting time was getting extended further into the future. It had taken me quite some time to decide to request an assessment. Completing the form took me a year (I have a big issue with form filling) - I also had the imposter syndrome going on too. So, I was getting rather worn down, tired and frustrated. I really needed to know whether I was autistic or not. 

    I decided, after much thought, to ask for a private assessment. I could just about afford it but really would have preferred to kept the money in the bank.  

    For me, it was the best thing I could have done. It was all done and dusted within 3 months and some of that was my delay. My diagnosis has been life changing and I have no doubts, at all, that I am autistic. 

Reply

  • Sorry to hear of your disappointment. 

    My situation was similar but not quite the same as yours. I was on an NHS waiting list and the waiting time was getting extended further into the future. It had taken me quite some time to decide to request an assessment. Completing the form took me a year (I have a big issue with form filling) - I also had the imposter syndrome going on too. So, I was getting rather worn down, tired and frustrated. I really needed to know whether I was autistic or not. 

    I decided, after much thought, to ask for a private assessment. I could just about afford it but really would have preferred to kept the money in the bank.  

    For me, it was the best thing I could have done. It was all done and dusted within 3 months and some of that was my delay. My diagnosis has been life changing and I have no doubts, at all, that I am autistic. 

Children
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