Share
How to Get Your ADHD Assessment (2026 Guide)
Before we start... Right to Choose is an NHS England policy, which means it generally applies to people registered with a GP in England. If you’re outside England, access routes and waiting list options can be different, so it’s worth checking your local NHS guidance.
Why is it so difficult to get help?
Trying to get an ADHD diagnosis in the UK at the moment can feel a bit like pushing a truck up a hill - lots of effort, but no movement.
You go in circles. You're expected wait. You're left to second-guess yourself. And somewhere along the way, you start wondering if you’re just imagining everything.
You’re not.
For a lot of people with ADHD, symptoms aren't just about focus or distraction. It’s about:
- Constant overwhelm
- Starting everything, finishing nothing
- Feeling mentally exhausted from basic tasks because of background loops
- Wondering why life feels harder than it should
And with those factors in mind, this guide has been written from my personal experience (2026) to walk you through exactly how to get an ADHD diagnosis in England, including how to use the Right to Choose pathway to avoid years of waiting.
Why Getting Diagnosed Feels So Difficult
Before the steps, it helps to understand the system.
The NHS pathway can involve:
- GP referral
- Long waiting lists (often 1-5+ years)
- Limited specialist availability
That delay alone causes people to:
- Give up, lose hope
- Burn out further
- Feel dismissed or ignored
But there is another route.
If you haven’t heard of Right to Choose, it’s an NHS pathway in England that lets you choose an alternative provider for things like mental health support, therapy, and neurodevelopmental assessments (including ADHD and autism) - often with much shorter waiting times than local services.
Access can vary slightly depending on your area, so it’s worth understanding how it works before you ask your GP 👉 Right to Choose Explained (Guide to Faster Diagnosis)
What Is “Right to Choose”? (And Why It Matters)
Right to Choose allows you to ask your GP to refer you to an alternative provider (still NHS-funded) with shorter waiting times.
This means:
- You are not stuck with your local waiting list
- You can choose providers with faster access
- It’s completely free (if done correctly through NHS pathways)
This is where most people either:
- Don’t know it exists
- Or don’t know how to ask for it
Step-by-Step: How to Get an ADHD Assessment
Step 1: Book a GP Appointment
Ask for an appointment and be clear:
“I believe I may have ADHD and would like to be referred for an assessment.”
You don’t need to prove anything, your GP cannot provide a formal diagnosis. You’re asking your GP for a referral, not a diagnosis.
Step 2: Mention Right to Choose (Important)
This is the part many people miss.
Say something like:
“I would like to use my Right to Choose for an ADHD assessment.”
If you don’t say this, you may automatically be placed on a long local waiting list.
Step 3: Choose a Provider
There are UK providers with significantly shorter waiting times.
Examples people commonly look into:
- Psychiatry-UK
- ADHD 360
- Care ADHD
- Clinical Partners
(Waiting times change, so always check current info on each provider's website).
There will be some paperwork / forms for this part that you'll fill in and return to your GP, usually via email. Once completed, you may need to chase your GP to be sure they have correctly submitted these forms. This part seems to be where many people become stuck.
Step 4: Complete Forms + Wait for Contact
After referral has been successfully submitted to your chosen provider:
- You’ll usually complete pre assessment questionnaires
- You'll usually be asked to provide some history from childhood, as well as answer questions about your day-to-day, your relationships, family and work.
- You’ll be contacted for assessment
This part still requires patience - but it’s often months, not years.
Step 5: Attend Your Assessment
Assessments are usually:
- Online (video call via Microsoft Teams or similar, usually accessible on your mobile too)
- Around 1-2 hours long
- Based on your history, behaviours, and patterns
If diagnosed, next steps may include:
- Waiting again for Medication Titration (gradually adjusting a drug's dose to find the most effective amount with the fewest side effects). It's not as long as the wait for assessment in most cases, but to be real - currently they aren't prescribed immediately after diagnosis, as you might expect.
- Support recommendations
- Shared care with your GP. This allows the GP to take over prescribing and monitoring, reducing specialist follow-up appointments. It's worth noting that not all GPs accept shared care, and in that case, the Right to Choose provider must continue to issue your prescriptions.
What No One Tells You About This Process
This part matters just as much as the steps.
- You might feel like a fraud while asking for help
- You might downplay your struggles when speaking
- You might hit delays or need to chase and find that difficult
That doesn’t mean you’re wrong - it means the system isn’t built simply.
A lot of people drop off at:
- Not following up referrals
- Feeling dismissed after one GP visit
- Overwhelm from forms
If that happens, it’s not the end - you can keep going. You can ask for support from your surgery's Mental Health Practitioner. If your surgery doesn't yet have a specialist Practitioner, they can still refer you to secondary mental health services for support.
Be clear with what you need.
Practical Tips to Make This Easier
- Write down your symptoms before your GP appointment
- Bring examples from childhood + adulthood
- Follow up if you hear nothing after a couple of weeks
- Don’t rely on memory in appointments
Small prep makes a big difference. It also really helps overcome any sense of imposter syndrome, helping you realise that you are seeking out the right support.
You’re Not “Broken” - You’re Navigating Without a Map
A lot of people go years believing:
- “I’m just lazy”
- “I need to try harder”
- “Everyone else manages, why can’t I?”
Getting answers doesn’t change who you are - it helps you understand how your brain actually works. And that changes everything...
"You can't stop the waves, but you can learn to surf." - Jon Kabat-Zinn
Why PITSTOP.Social Exists
PITSTOP.Social isn’t just about cars. It’s about understanding those moments where:
- Your mind won’t switch off
- You disappear into something just to feel calm
- You need space from everything
And for a lot of us, that space looks like:
- A drive
- A garage
- A quiet place away from noise
That’s what this community is built around.
If You’re Starting This Process…
You don’t have to figure it out alone.
👉 Join the PITSTOP.Social community group - it's a private Facebook group where many of us have started, need to start, or have come out the other-side of the assessment process.
👉 Explore PITSTOP.Social apparel - designed for minds that don’t run standard
Or just start here: Bookmark this page to come back to.
