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.

Referral for Children (up to age 18)
Referrals for Adults

If your child is under 6 years of age

If your child is under 6 years old, referrals for Autism or ADHD assessments will need to be made through your child’s GP. To book a child’s GP appointment, please call our Reception team on 01362 692916

Child Referrals (Under 18)

Child 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.

Important Forms

As part of the referral process, the below forms must be completed by the child’s parent(s) or guardian, and school staff:

Parent Observation Form – completed by Parent / Guardian
Child Referral Form – completed by Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) at school
Teacher Observation Form – completed by Teacher / School

Home Schooling or Not Attending School

If your child is over 6 years of age and is either home schooled or does not attend school at all, referrals need to come via the GP.

In these circumstances, please complete an ADHD/Autism Referral Request form.

Child (Under 18) 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:

If, following an assessment, medication is prescribed, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to provide this medication.

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 please contact us using our online form to request a referral for one of the listed provider.
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

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.

Please note if you wish to go via the NHS route and have never been diagnosed you will need to make an appointment with a GP. Please contact our reception team on 01362 692916. Alternatively, if you wish to go via the Right to Choose route or have already been diagnosed, please complete the form below:

Please complete an online ADHD or Autism (ASD) Referral Request form.

Adults with suspected Autism spectrum disorder 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.

To self refer, please use the Autism Service Norfolk website

Adult referral via Right to Choose

ADHD

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

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

The Norfolk and Waveney Integrated Care Board (ICB) have approved the following Right To Choose providers for Autism assessments:

You can also visit the Right to Choose – ADHD UK website, which also lists some Autism assessment providers.

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).

You will also need to complete the below forms:

For Autism Referrals – AQ-10 for adults (aged 16+)
For ADHD Referrals – Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS 1.1)

Then please contact us using our online form to request a referral for one of the listed provider.