A Melksham resident is backing a campaign against proposed changes to the NHS Right to Choose Scheme. The scheme currently allows patients to choose their mental health provider, including for autism and ADHD assessments.
Beth Rutley, who has been diagnosed with ADHD, has written to her MP, Brian Mathew, to express concern over the proposed changes. The NHS Right to Choose Scheme enables patients to select their mental health provider and treatment team, helping many access care more quickly. However, under the new proposals, Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) would gain more control over referrals, reducing patients’ ability to choose the earliest available treatment.
The consultation for these changes has not been open to the public, and if approved, the changes could take effect on 1st April. Campaigners warn that this could have severe consequences, particularly for those seeking ADHD or autism diagnoses. Lengthy waiting lists for these assessments could become even longer, worsening the problem.
Beth, who was diagnosed through the scheme two years ago, warns that the changes could be “catastrophic.” She fears that patients could lose access to NHS-funded private providers, leaving many without vital medication.
“In my case, it would mean losing access to life-changing medication and being put back on a 10-year waiting list to be re-diagnosed,” Beth explained. “My titration [which determines the concentration of medication] was completed last year, and when they tried to hand me back to my GP, he declined. I have no choice—I have to stay with this provider. If the Right to Choose is shut down, I’ll be left with no medication.”
Beth has called on MP Brian Mathew to escalate the issue to Parliament, urging that any decision be made through proper political debate.
The MP has said he is calling on the government to conduct a consultation involving patients before decisions are made. He said, “This is an extremely important issue that affects many families in our constituency. Undermining Right to Choose, without requiring improvements in local NHS provision of ADHD assessments would be deeply short sighted and I can only imagine the frustration and worry that patients and families awaiting a diagnosis must feel. Patients are already waiting far too long for these as it is.
“I want the government, at the very least, to conduct a consultation that includes patients before making a further decision on the restrictions they are proposing. The risk of unintended consequences, like trapping people on already long waiting lists, is very alarming.
“Personally, I have submitted written questions to the Department for Health and Social Care to ask about shortages of ADHD medication, what steps are being taken to improve CAMHS [NHS services that assess and treat young people with emotional, behavioural or mental health difficulties] and what is being done to increase the speed of diagnosis for conditions like ADHD and autism.
“Locally, I am in discussions with our Integrated Care Board and will raise these issues with them.”
Beth said,“This isn’t just about ADHD. It highlights a larger issue with NHS management. How can decisions be made about who gets access to help and support, out of the hundreds of thousands of people who need it?”
The Right to Choose was introduced in 2018, giving NHS patients the legal right to select their mental healthcare provider. This includes exploring alternative providers if waiting times for ADHD or autism spectrum disorder (ASD) assessments are too long.
ADHD UK, which is leading a campaign against the proposed changes, has described the move as “wrong.” On their website, the charity stated: “We don’t think this change should happen at all. But irrespective of that, no change as significant as this should be made in this way. The Right to Choose your NHS care was given to the people by Parliament as sovereign. It is wrong to remove this universal right without it being debated and decided in Parliament.”
The charity is urging people to write to their MPs to protest the changes.
