Right to Choose ADHD Letter Template for Your GP (With the Four Phrases ICBs Accept)

What this page gives you

If you have asked your General Practitioner (GP) about an Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) assessment and been told "the wait is years", "we cannot refer you", or "we do not do Right to Choose here", none of those answers are the final word. Right to Choose is your legal right under the NHS Constitution, and your GP is the person who triggers it on your behalf.

This page does two things. It gives you a copy-and-paste letter you can email or hand to your GP this week. It also explains the four exact phrases Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) accept as a valid Right to Choose request, so the letter is not refused for the wrong wording.

A printable version is linked at the bottom of the page if you would rather hand your GP a single sheet.

What Right to Choose actually is

Right to Choose is set out in the NHS Constitution. It says that for most planned hospital services in England, including mental health assessments, you have the legal right to choose which provider treats you, as long as the provider holds a National Health Service (NHS) Standard Contract and your GP makes the referral.

For ADHD assessment this means you can choose any Right to Choose ADHD provider with an NHS Standard Contract, not just the one your local NHS would default to. The wait at a Right to Choose provider is usually a few weeks to a few months. The wait on the NHS standard pathway in most areas is now measured in years. Our wait times comparison guide has the current numbers for every route.

Your GP cannot refuse to refer you simply because they prefer the standard pathway, are unfamiliar with the provider, or do not personally agree with how Right to Choose is funded. They can decline only if there is a clinical reason that an ADHD assessment is not appropriate, and that reason has to be recorded.

The four phrases ICBs accept

ICBs process referral letters in volume. If the letter is ambiguous, it gets bounced back to the GP for clarification, which delays your assessment by weeks. The four phrases below are the ones ICB administrators recognise on sight. Use all four.

1. "I am formally exercising my right to choose under the NHS Constitution." This phrase identifies the legal basis of the request. Without it, the referral can be miscategorised as a general mental health referral.
2. "I have selected [provider name] as my chosen provider, who holds an NHS Standard Contract for Adult ADHD assessment." Naming the provider and confirming their contract status removes ambiguity. Most Right to Choose ADHD providers publish their contract status on their referrals page. If yours does not, ask them by email and they will confirm.
3. "Please complete an electronic Referral Service (eRS) referral, or direct provider referral, to [provider name]." This tells your GP the mechanism. The eRS system is the preferred route for most providers, but some accept a direct email or postal referral. Check your chosen provider's referral page and copy what they ask for.
4. "I understand that the cost of my assessment and any subsequent prescribing will be met by my ICB under Right to Choose." This sentence does the most quiet work. It signals that you know the funding pathway, which closes the most common reason for delay, which is GP uncertainty about who pays.

The letter template

You can paste the text below into an email, a patient portal message such as Patches, AccuRx or Anima, or print it onto a single sheet. Replace anything in square brackets with your own details. Nothing else needs to change.

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To: [Your GP's name]
From: [Your name]
Date: [Today's date]
NHS number: [Your NHS number, if known]

Dear Dr [Surname],

I am writing to request a referral for an adult Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) assessment.

I am formally exercising my right to choose under the NHS Constitution. I have selected [provider name] as my chosen provider, who holds an NHS Standard Contract for Adult ADHD assessment. Please complete an electronic Referral Service (eRS) referral, or direct provider referral, to [provider name]. I understand that the cost of my assessment and any subsequent prescribing will be met by my Integrated Care Board (ICB) under Right to Choose.

I have been experiencing the following difficulties for many years, and I believe a formal assessment is appropriate:

• [List two or three specific examples, written in your own words. For example: difficulty sustaining attention at work despite trying every productivity system I know; long-standing problems with time blindness, often arriving late or missing deadlines; impulsivity that has affected my relationships and finances.]

I have completed the Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS) and scored [your score, if you have taken it]. I would be happy to discuss further at our next appointment.

The referral form for [provider name] is available at [provider's referrals page URL]. Their NHS Standard Contract reference and ICB billing details are on the same page.

Thank you for your time.

Yours sincerely,
[Your name]
[Your date of birth]
[Your address]
[Your contact number]

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What to do if your GP says no

GPs decline Right to Choose referrals more often than they should. The most common reasons are:

• They have not seen the request worded clearly before. This is what the four phrases above are designed to fix.
• They believe Right to Choose has been suspended. It has not. Some specific providers may be paused for new referrals because their ICB has hit its annual funding cap, but the legal right itself remains. Our Right to Choose guide explains how the system works in full.
• They are uncertain about prescribing under Right to Choose. The provider you choose will hold prescribing responsibility until a shared care agreement is signed with your GP. If a shared care request comes later, your GP can decline at that point and prescribing stays with the provider.

If your GP declines, ask them to put the reason in writing. Then send a polite second email referencing the NHS Constitution, mentioning that you understand the practice's referral pathway includes Right to Choose, and offering to discuss further. If that does not work, you can complain to the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) at your ICB, or change to a GP practice that processes Right to Choose referrals routinely. Most large group practices do.

Which provider should you choose

There is no single right answer. The factors that matter are wait time, whether they offer titration and shared care, whether they suit your communication preferences (video, in-person, asynchronous), and whether they are currently accepting referrals from your ICB.

Our wait times comparison guide is updated with current data for the main Right to Choose providers. Pick a shortlist of two or three before you write the letter, in case your first choice is paused. Our free UK ADHD provider guide (PDF) covers the main providers in more detail.

Download the printable letter template

A printable version of the GP letter template is available as a free download: download the GP letter template (PDF).

Next steps

If your assessment is already booked, see our shared care agreement guide for what happens after the diagnosis, and how titration works.

Right to Choose is your right. The letter above is the one that gets it triggered properly. Send it this week.