Right to Choose for ADHD in Scotland

What is Right to Choose?

Right to Choose is a legal right under the NHS in England, set out in the NHS Constitution for England. It allows a patient to choose their healthcare provider, including a private clinic that holds an NHS contract, for a first outpatient appointment such as an ADHD assessment, at no cost to the patient. In practice, it has enabled some people in England to access ADHD assessments at private clinics without waiting on NHS lists, with the cost met by the NHS.

The scheme operates because certain private providers have successfully applied to become NHS-commissioned services in England, allowing GPs to refer patients to them under the standard NHS referral pathway. The patient pays nothing; the NHS pays the provider at standard NHS tariff rates.

Does Right to Choose apply in Scotland?

If you are registered with a GP in Scotland, you cannot use Right to Choose to obtain an NHS-funded private ADHD assessment. This is not a loophole or an oversight: it reflects the fundamental difference between two separate healthcare systems. Much of the content circulating online about Right to Choose and ADHD is written for an English audience and does not apply north of the border. If that describes you, our guide to private ADHD assessment in Newcastle may be a more relevant starting point. Wales and Northern Ireland are separate again (each runs its own devolved NHS, distinct from both England and Scotland), and our guides to Wales and Belfast & Northern Ireland set out the position for those nations.

So what are your options in Scotland?

There are two main routes to an ADHD assessment in Scotland:

1. An NHS referral via your GP

You can ask your GP to refer you to your local NHS mental health or neurodevelopmental service for an ADHD assessment. This route costs you nothing. The difficulty is that demand for ADHD assessment has increased substantially in recent years and NHS waiting times in Scotland are currently long in most health board areas. For more detail on current waits, see our guide to NHS ADHD waiting times in Scotland, or compare the two routes side by side in private vs NHS ADHD assessment in Scotland.

2. A self-funded private assessment

A private ADHD assessment with a GMC-registered psychiatrist or specialist does not require NHS funding and is not subject to NHS waiting lists. You fund it yourself, and the assessment can typically be arranged within weeks rather than years. This is the route most people in Scotland use when they need a timely answer. You can read more about what is involved on our private ADHD assessment page, or see our detailed guide to private ADHD assessment in Scotland: costs and what to expect.

Is anything changing in Scotland?

Work is under way to improve the NHS pathway for ADHD in Scotland, though a standardised national system is not yet in force. The Scottish Government has been working with the National Autism Implementation Team on developing a single national pathway for adult autism and ADHD diagnosis. The Royal College of Psychiatrists in Scotland has also been engaged in scoping a national adult ADHD pathway. These are positive developments, but they have not yet translated into shorter waits or a Right to Choose–style mechanism for Scottish patients. For now, the practical situation remains unchanged: long NHS waits and no equivalent of Right to Choose.

What about NHS prescribing after a private diagnosis?

A question that often follows is whether, once a private ADHD diagnosis has been made, an NHS GP will take over the prescribing of any medication. This is commonly called shared care.

There is no national NHS Scotland policy that requires a GP to accept shared care following a private diagnosis. Whether a GP agrees to prescribe is a matter of clinical discretion, and practice varies considerably between health boards and between individual practices. A private diagnosis does not automatically entitle a patient to NHS prescriptions.

What tends to support a GP in agreeing to shared care is a thorough, clearly written report from a GMC-registered psychiatrist, prepared in line with NICE and Royal College of Psychiatrists guidance, with a full developmental and collateral history and the physical health checks that responsible prescribing requires. This gives a GP the clinical information they need to make a confident prescribing decision. You can read more about the shared care process and what Caledonian Psychiatry includes in its assessment reports on our shared care with your GP page, and our guide to NHS prescribing after a private ADHD diagnosis explains what Scotland’s national guidance asks GPs to check.

Booking a private ADHD assessment with Caledonian Psychiatry

Caledonian Psychiatry is a private psychiatric practice regulated by Healthcare Improvement Scotland (reg. no. 03427), providing assessments remotely to adults across Scotland. Assessments are carried out by Dr David Crocker, a psychiatrist (MRCPsych) with experience in adult ADHD, autism, and mental health assessment.

No GP referral is needed. You can refer yourself directly by using the contact form below or by emailing or calling the practice. A private ADHD assessment is £800, covering two 60-minute consultations and a detailed written report. See the fees page for the complete schedule.