Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether some integrated care boards are capping neurodevelopmental assessments without informing GPs or patients.

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for planning and commissioning services to meet the needs of their local populations, including making decisions about how best to manage demand and capacity within available resources. There is guidance for the use and implementation of the contractual levers available to ICBs, detailed in the NHS Standard Contract Technical Guidance. Use of these must not restrict patients’ choice for provider.

Where an ICB has taken a decision to pause or manage activity within a Right to Choose pathway, it is for that ICB to determine and apply any local prioritisation criteria, taking account of clinical need and patient safety. It is the responsibility of the local system to decide whether to publish criteria, and to ensure that patients, families and the public are communicated with clearly and provided with appropriate information.

NHS England provides guidance and oversight to ICBs to support them in meeting their statutory duties, including in relation to patient choice. The Government is committed to patients having the right to choose their provider when referred to consultant-led treatment, or to a mental health professional, for their first appointment as an outpatient. Patients’ Right to Choose is set out in legislation and no changes are being made to this legal right. Further information on the choices available for patients is available on the NHS Choice framework at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-nhs-choice-framework

In April 2023, NHS England published a national framework and operational guidance for autism assessment services, which is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/autism-diagnosis-and-operational-guidance/

This guidance intends to help the National Health Service to improve autism assessment services and to improve the experience for those referred to a service.

The Medium Term Planning Framework, published 24 October 2025, was explicit that ICBs and providers are expected to optimise existing resources to reduce long waits for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism assessments and improve the quality of assessments by implementing existing and new guidance, as published.

In December 2025, the Government launched an Independent Review into Prevalence and Support for Mental Health Conditions, ADHD and Autism. This independent review will inform our approach to enabling people with ADHD and autistic people to have the right support in place to enable them to live well in their communities. The final report is due to be published in the summer.