Right To Choose Pauses - Is this lawful?

What’s Really Happening, and What You Can Do!

There’s a lot of worry right now about Right to Choose (RTC) ADHD/Autism assessments being “paused” in some areas, including parts of West Yorkshire. Before anyone panics, it’s important we understand why this is happening and what your rights actually are.

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1. Why some areas have paused RTC referrals

A pause does not mean:

• RTC has been abolished
• The law has changed
• Providers are no longer allowed to assess

What’s happened is much simpler and more frustrating:

ICBs (Integrated Care Board) have overspent their neurodevelopmental budgets.
Instead of fixing the system, some have told independent providers to stop accepting new RTC referrals until the next financial year. (April 26)

This is a financial decision, not a clinical one.

There has been:

• No change in legislation
• No removal of Patient Choice rights
• No published evidence that pausing is safer, better, or clinically justified

It is purely about money. It always is!

And when a public body restricts a statutory right because of money, that is legally questionable.

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2. What the law actually says

Parents and young people still have a legal right to choose their provider for a first consultant‑led appointment. This comes from:

• The NHS Constitution
• The NHS Choice Framework
• The National Health Service Commissioning Board and Clinical Commissioning Groups (Responsibilities and Standing Rules) Regulations 2012

These laws do not allow:

• Blanket pauses
• Financially‑motivated restrictions
• “We’ve run out of money” as a reason to deny a statutory right

If a child is already on a provider’s list, the ICB cannot lawfully:

• Remove them
• Delay them
• Push them back into local waiting lists

Once accepted, the provider has a duty to complete the assessment.

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3. Why these pauses are harmful to children

This is the part decision‑makers often ignore.

Pausing RTC:

• Extends already unsafe waiting times
• Delays access to support, medication, and school adjustments
• Increases behavioural crises, exclusions, and mental health deterioration
• Disproportionately harms disabled children which raises Equality Act concerns

Children are not “budget lines”. Every month of delay is a month of lost learning, increased distress, and avoidable family strain.

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4. If you’re already on a provider’s list you can challenge this!

If your child has already been accepted by an RTC provider, you have strong grounds to challenge any attempt to pause, delay, or remove them.

You can ask the provider and the ICB to confirm:

• The legal basis for removing or delaying an accepted referral
• Whether an Equality Impact Assessment was completed
• How they are complying with statutory Patient Choice
• Why a financial decision is being applied to a child’s clinical pathway

These are public‑law duties. They cannot be ignored because a budget has been overspent.

If they cannot provide lawful justification, the pause is challengeable through:

• A formal complaint
• The ICB
• NHS England
• (If needed) pre‑action correspondence for Judicial Review

Most cases resolve long before that point.

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5. What you can do right now

If you are:

• Already accepted by a provider → you stay on the list. Challenge any attempt to remove / pause you. Escalate here.
• Trying to be referred → you can still request RTC. If the GP refuses, ask for the refusal in writing and escalate here.

You are not asking for anything special. You are asking for the law to be followed.

Use the hyperlinks to access complaints to GP NHS & ICB. Thank you

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