Last updated: 17 December 2025
Your local NHS Integrated Care Board (ICB), Birmingham and Solihull ICB, is responsible for planning and funding NHS services in your area. Your ICB has asked Clinical Partners to make changes to the way autism and ADHD services are managed. These changes may affect how long people wait for assessment.
We are sharing this information so that patients on the Clinical Partners waiting list from Birmingham and Solihull ICB have the most up-to-date picture.
On this page
- Why changes are being made
- For parents and carers of children and young people
- For adults
- Your legal Right to Choose
- Support while you wait
- Questions about these changes
Why changes are being made
Demand for Autism and ADHD services across England is higher than the NHS financial resources available. Under new NHS guidance, ICBs can use contractual powers to manage demand and keep services within locally available budgets. This means ICBs may instruct providers that offer services under Right to Choose to prioritise these resources by 'pausing' certain assessments and in some cases treatment until further funding becomes available. Your ICB has asked us to pause new autism and ADHD assessments.
For parents and carers of children and young people
What this means for your child:
- Your child will stay on the waiting list, unless you ask for them to be removed.
- While services for your ICB are paused, we will be unable to book your child’s appointment unless:
- their assessment is already booked
- they are part-way through their assessment journey
- they are diagnosed and awaiting treatment
- they are already receiving ADHD medication and require ongoing management and reviews.
- When your ICB confirms further funding is available, services will resume, and we will begin booking assessments again in referral date order.
- At this stage, we cannot give you a specific timeframe for your child’s assessment.
Which services will continue?
Birmingham and Solihull ICB has asked us to continue to provide services for patients whose assessment date is already booked, those part-way through their assessment, those diagnosed and awaiting treatment, and those already receiving ADHD medication who require ongoing management and reviews.
Support in school
Schools can provide support and make adjustments without a formal diagnosis — please speak to your child’s school about what may be possible.
For adults
What this means for you:
- You will stay on the waiting list, unless you ask to be removed.
- While services funded by your ICB are paused, we will be unable to book you for an appointment unless:
- your assessment is already booked
- you are part-way through your assessment
- you are diagnosed and awaiting treatment
- you are already receiving ADHD medication and require ongoing management and reviews.
- When your ICB confirms further funding is available, services will resume, and we will begin booking assessments again in referral date order.
- At this stage, we cannot give you a specific timeframe for your assessment.
Which services will continue?
Birmingham and Solihull ICB has asked us to continue to provide services for patients whose assessment date is already booked, those part-way through their assessment, those diagnosed and awaiting treatment, and those already receiving ADHD medication who require ongoing management and reviews.
Additional support
Workplaces and community services can often provide support and adjustments based on individual needs, even without a formal diagnosis. Please speak with your GP or employer about what may be available.
Your legal Right to Choose
You have a legal Right to Choose which provider carries out your NHS autism or ADHD assessment.
You may wish to contact other providers directly to confirm their current waiting times for your ICB. If you decide to move your referral, you will need to ask your GP to make a new referral and inform us so we can remove you from our waiting list. Please be aware that if you leave our list and later return to Clinical Partners, you will rejoin the waiting list from the beginning.
Learn more: NHS England Patient Choice
Support while you wait
We understand that waiting for an assessment can be frustrating or worrying. Support is available even without a formal diagnosis, and early help can make a meaningful difference. Understanding and addressing needs at an early stage is associated with much better outcomes for neurodivergent individuals, so you should not put off seeking help while waiting for an assessment.
Those waiting for assessment for ADHD and autism can access support while they wait:
Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
Alternatively, support for children and young people can be found here:
- Support while waiting – for children and young people in Birmingham
- Support while waiting – for children and young people in Solihull
- The Waiting Room also has information about support on offer, covering all ages.
There are also resources available online for adults via:
- The National Autistic Society – provides advice and guidance on autism assessment, including practical steps to take while waiting
- ADHD UK – offering information, peer support and resources about diagnosis and coping strategies
- Mind – provides information on ADHD, mental health and practical wellbeing tips.
You can also visit the NHS webpages for ADHD in adults and ADHD in children, and Autism, or talk to your GP about self-management strategies or any concerns about your or your child’s wellbeing.
If anyone feels in crisis:
- Call 111 for urgent NHS advice
- Call 999 in an emergency
Support for adults:
- Text ‘SHOUT’ to 85258 for free, confidential text support, availble 24/7
- Call 116 123 to talk to Samaritans, available 24/7
Support for children and young people:
- Childline – call 0800 1111 or use online chat
- Shout – text YM to 85258, available 24/7
- Papyrus HOPELINE247 – call 0800 068 4141 or text 07860 039 967
- The Mix – call 0808 808 4994 or use webchat (under 25s)
Questions about these changes
The decision to pause new referrals for autism and ADHD assessments has been made by NHS Birmingham and Solihull ICB to manage NHS resources. Unfortunately, our team is not able to provide further information about the changes. If you have questions or concerns, please contact your ICB directly via [email protected]
This update applies only to patients on the Clinical Partners waiting list whose NHS care is commissioned by Birmingham and Solihull ICB. If your care is arranged by a different ICB, please check your email to see if there is an update for your care.
FAQs
Demand for autism and ADHD services across England is higher than the NHS financial resources available. Under new NHS guidance, ICBs can use contractual powers to manage demand and keep services within locally available budgets. This means ICBs may instruct providers that offer Autism and ADHD services under Right to Choose to prioritise resources by 'pausing' certain assessments, until further funding becomes available.
Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) are responsible for planning NHS services and making sure they stay within their local budgets. The NHS is experiencing significant financial pressures and demand for services. ICBs must balance funding health care services to meet the needs of its local population with financial resources available. Because of this, ICBs may ask providers delivering services under Right to Choose to pause new bookings so that existing patients can continue their care safely, until more funding is available.
No. You or your child will remain on the waiting list and keep your original referral date. When Birmingham and Solihull ICB is able to release more funding, bookings will restart, and patients will be booked in referral date order.
If you or your child already have an appointment booked, it will go ahead as planned. For patients without an assessment appointment, new bookings are paused until further funding is released.
Birmingham and Solihull ICB has asked us to continue to provide services for patients whose assessment date is already booked, those part-way through their assessment, those diagnosed and awaiting treatment, and those already receiving ADHD medication who require ongoing management and reviews. Patients of other ICBs may be in a different position.
All patients are on one waiting list and normally bookings are made in strict date order. However, when an ICB instructs Clinical Partners to pause services, bookings for new assessments for patients from that ICB cannot be made. During this time, we continue booking patients from other ICBs whose funding is still available, even if their referral date is later than yours.
When Birmingham and Solihull ICB releases further funding, services will resume, and your appointments will be booked when we are booking referrals from the same date as yours.
Yes. You have a legal Right to Choose which provider carries out your NHS autism or ADHD assessment. You may wish to contact other providers directly to confirm their waiting times for Birmingham and Solihull ICB.
If you decide to move your referral to another provider, you will need to:
- Ask your GP to make a new referral, and
- Tell us so we can remove you from our waiting list.
Please be aware that if you leave our list and later return to Clinical Partners, you will rejoin the waiting list from the start.
Please speak to your GP if you are concerned. Schools, workplaces, and community services can often provide support and adjustments without a formal diagnosis. Support services and helplines are listed above.
Schools, workplaces, and community services can often provide support and adjustments based on individual needs, even without a formal diagnosis. Please speak with your GP, school, or employer about what may be available.
The decision to pause new referrals for autism and ADHD assessments has been made by NHS Birmingham and Solihull ICB to manage NHS resources. Unfortunately, our team is not able to provide further information about the changes. If you have questions or concerns, please contact your ICB directly via [email protected]
Clinical Partners cannot investigate complaints regarding pauses in funding.
Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) are NHS organisations that plan and fund healthcare services for people in their local area. They decide how NHS budgets are spent and are responsible for commissioning (purchasing) services such as autism and ADHD assessments.
Your NHS care is commissioned (planned and funded) by the Integrated Care Board (ICB) linked to your GP practice. This may not always match where you live.
You can check which ICB your GP practice is part of by:
- Looking on your GP practice website, which usually lists the ICB they belong to.
- Asking at your GP practice reception.
- Visiting the NHS England website for a full list of ICBs and the areas they cover.