Referrals ADHD and Autism – Children & Adults

 

Introduction

We are receiving an increasing number of requests for referrals for ADHD or autism assessments.

Before contacting us please read the following information which explains the referral options.

mental-health

Referral for Children (up to age 18)

Referral to Local NHS Services for Assessment and Diagnosis

If your child is over 6 years of age and attends school, the school should be referring the child rather than the GP.

A new referral pathway was established in June 2024 allowing schools to refer directly for ADHD and autism assessments. This change recognises that schools are better placed to gather the necessary information and refer rather than the GP.

Please see this website which goes through the referral process. If needed please pass this information onto school so they can read the content and refer you on.

  • If your child is over 6 years of age and is either home schooled or does not attend school at all.
  • Referrals in these circumstances need to come via the GP so do contact us via our appointment system using our online AccuRx Triage Form.

What if my child is under 6 years of age?

ADHD

At present we cannot refer for ADHD assessments if a child is under 6 so if you have concerns your child has ADHD, you do need to wait until their 6th birthday before seeking referral. You can get support if needed via Just One Norfolk

Autism

We can refer under the age of 6 if there are concerns about autism (for example if there are significant social communication problems). Please contact us via our appointment system online using our online AccuRx Triage Form to arrange this.

Referral via Right to Choose

Right to Choose provides you the option of asking for a referral to a particular provider of your choice for assessment. You need to investigate and decide which provider you would like us to refer to, we cannot recommend providers.

The Norfolk and Waveney Integrated Care Board (ICB) have approved four Right To Choose providers for ADHD and autism assessments:

We recommend asking for one of the above options as if medications are required, these are the only providers currently approved from which the GP surgery might be able to continue the prescriptions.

You can find more information about the ICB policy here. Please note the information on this webpage is written for GPs but we thought it would be useful to include for patients to access.

  • Once you have chosen a provider, please visit their website and ensure you have filled out all the pre-referral information (each provider will require something different to refer and without this information we will be unable to refer).
  • Then contact us to ask for a referral to one of the listed providers.
  • If, following an assessment medication is prescribed, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to provide this medication.  
  • Every so often, providers will pause accepting any new referrals.

Referrals for Adults

Referral to Local NHS Services for Assessment and Diagnosis.

ADHD

We can refer adults for suspected ADHD. There are very specific pieces of information which we need to include with the referral. We have prepared an electronic pre-referral questionnaire to send to patients seeking referral to gather all the necessary information.

You can contact us via our appointment system to request one of these questionnaires.

Autism

Adults (18+) can self refer for an NHS autism assessment via Autism Service Norfolk. You do not need a GP appointment to access this service and the details on how to refer are outlined on their website. It does mention that if you self refer you should inform your GP. You can do this by either speaking to one of our reception team or using our online AccurRx Triage Form. 

To self refer please visit here.

Right to Choose

Right to Choose provides you the option of asking for a referral to a particular provider of your choice for assessment. You need to investigate and decide which provider you would like us to refer to, we cannot recommend providers.

ADHD

The Norfolk and Waveney Integrated Care Board (ICB) have approved four Right To Choose providers for ADHD and autism assessments:

We recommend asking for one of the above options as if medications are required, these are the only providers currently approved from which the GP surgery might be able to continue the prescriptions.

Autism

There is no official ICB list for autism providers so please look at this website to find providers: Right to Choose – ADHD UK

  • Once you have chosen a provider, please visit their website and ensure you have filled out all the pre-referral information (each provider will require something different to refer and without this information we will be unable to refer).
  • Then contact us via our online AccuRx Traige Form to ask for a referral to one of the listed providers.
  • If, following an assessment medication is prescribed, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to provide this medication.  
  • Every so often, providers will pause accepting any new referrals.