Right to Choose ADHD: GP Email Template That Works

If you have spent any time on an NHS ADHD waiting list, you already know the maths is grim. Years, in a lot of areas. So when people talk about the right to choose adhd route, it can feel like either a lifeline or a rumour that is too good to be true. It is real, it is legal, and most of the time the only thing standing between you and a referral is a short, clear email to your GP.

I have written that email more times than I can count — for myself, for friends, for people who messaged me after reading our other guides. The version below is the one that actually gets actioned, because it does the GP's thinking for them. No begging, no essay. Just a polite request, the legal basis, and a named provider so they can copy and paste your referral.

What Right to Choose actually is (the short version)

Right to Choose is a long-standing patient right in the NHS in England. For most planned, consultant-led services, you can ask to be referred to any provider that holds an NHS contract — not just your local Trust. Because some independent ADHD assessment providers hold NHS contracts, you can use this right to be assessed by one of them, on the NHS, at no cost to you.

A few honest caveats before you get your hopes too high:

• It applies to England only. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have separate systems and do not offer this route.
• It is for the assessment and, where appropriate, diagnosis and titration — not a guaranteed instant prescription.
• Your GP can decline if there is a genuine clinical reason, but "we don't normally do that" is not one of them.

If you want the full mechanics — how the contracts work, what happens after referral, shared-care agreements — we go deep in how Right to Choose works in 2026. This guide is about the bit people get stuck on: getting the words right.

Before you email: three things to line up

You do not need much, but a little prep makes the GP's job effortless, which is the whole game.

• Pick a provider first. Your email is far stronger if it names a specific NHS-contracted ADHD provider rather than asking your GP to find one. Choosing well matters — waiting times and titration support vary a lot between them. Our guide to picking a Right to Choose provider walks through what to compare.
• Know your NHS number if you can find it (it is on any hospital letter or in the NHS App). Not essential, but it speeds things up.
• Jot down why you are seeking assessment in a sentence or two. You do not owe anyone a trauma essay — "longstanding difficulties with focus, organisation and impulsivity that affect my work and home life" is plenty.

That is it. Resist the urge to over-explain. The referral is administrative, not a tribunal.

The GP email template that works

Copy this, swap in your details, and send it to your surgery — most accept admin requests by email, online form, or via the NHS App. Keep it boring on purpose. Boring gets actioned.

Dear [Surgery name], > > I would like to request a referral for an adult ADHD assessment under my legal Right to Choose (NHS in England). I would like to be referred to [Provider name], which holds an NHS contract for ADHD assessment. > > My details: [Full name], [date of birth], [NHS number if known], [address]. > > I have longstanding difficulties with [briefly: e.g. attention, organisation, restlessness] that affect my daily life, and I would like a formal assessment. I understand this provider accepts NHS Right to Choose referrals and I am happy to be added to their list. > > Please could you let me know once the referral has been sent, or if you need anything further from me. Thank you for your help. > > Kind regards, [Your name]

That is the entire thing. Notice what it does: it states the legal basis in the first line, names the provider so nobody has to research it, hands over the admin details, and asks for confirmation so the request does not vanish into an inbox.

Some providers also let you submit your own referral details directly and will then request the formal referral from your GP — check your chosen provider's site, because that can be even faster.

If your GP says no (and what to say back)

This is where people lose nerve, so let me be blunt: a refusal is usually a knowledge gap at the surgery, not a wall. Front-desk and even some clinical staff genuinely may not have processed a Right to Choose referral before. Stay warm, stay specific.

Common pushbacks and calm replies:

• "We don't do Right to Choose / we've never heard of it." — "Right to Choose is an established NHS England patient right for consultant-led referrals. [Provider] holds an NHS contract and accepts these referrals — would it help if I send you their referral details?"
• "You have to use the local service." — "I understand the local waiting list is very long, which is exactly why I'd like to exercise my right to choose an alternative NHS-contracted provider instead."
• "The GP needs to assess you first." — Reasonable to a point: a short conversation is fine. But the assessment itself is the provider's job, not the GP's. You are asking to be referred, not diagnosed on the spot.

If you hit a genuine dead end, ask politely for the refusal and the reason in writing, and consider contacting your local Integrated Care Board, who commission these services. Most refusals quietly resolve long before that. If the surgery is dragging its feet on the referral itself rather than the route, our guide on how to get a GP to refer you for ADHD has more on that conversation.

A gentle reality check while you are at it: this is a slow process even when it goes smoothly, and weighing it against going private is fair. We compare private vs NHS ADHD cost and wait so you can decide with clear eyes rather than in a panic at 1am.

While you wait: building scaffolding that helps anyway

Here is the thing nobody tells you — a diagnosis is a door, not a fix. The strategies that help with focus, time and overwhelm are worth building now, whether your assessment is next month or next year, and whether the outcome is ADHD, something else, or "no formal diagnosis but these tools still help."

Externalising your brain is the big one. Time genuinely feels different for a lot of us — what we call time blindness — so visible timers, alarms and a planner you will actually look at beat any amount of willpower. When everything feels equally urgent and you freeze, that ADHD paralysis usually loosens once you shrink the next step to something almost insultingly small.

Our free ND Starter Kit is a no-strings place to begin: printable routines, a brain-dump sheet and an energy-budget tracker, useful with or without a diagnosis. None of it is medical advice — it is just scaffolding, the kind of thing that makes an ordinary week feel a touch more manageable while the system catches up with you.

And to be completely clear, because it matters: this guide is practical support, not medical advice. Anything about diagnosis, medication or whether ADHD fits you is a conversation for a qualified clinician — your GP is the right first call.