Last updated: 3 October 2025
Your local NHS Integrated Care Board (ICB), Greater Manchester 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 Greater Manchester 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.
Read more from Greater Manchester ICB
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.
If you have been invited to book your child's assessment by voicemail or letter, you can still call us to arrange their appointment.
If your child is currently receiving ADHD medication, or waiting to start medication, this decision does not affect their care. We will continue to support them as planned.
Which services will continue?
Greater Manchester 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.
If you have been invited to book your assessment by voicemail or letter, you can still call us to arrange your appointment.
If you are currently receiving ADHD medication, or waiting to start medication, this decision does not affect your care. We will continue to support you as planned.
Which services will continue?
Greater Manchester 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 know waiting for an assessment can be difficult. We understand this may feel frustrating or worrying, and we are committed to making sure you are supported during this time.
- Visit the NHS webpages for ADHD in adults and ADHD in children, and Autism
- The National Autistic Society have an online community and a helpful advice and guidance page
- ADHD UK is a charity run for people with ADHD by people with ADHD
- The Health for Teens website has a broad range of useful health information, including about ADHD and autism. All articles and videos have been developed by trusted NHS school nurses and health and wellbeing experts
- Explore local support groups or charities
- Talk to your GP about self-management strategies, or if you are worried 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
These decisions have been made by Greater Manchester 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 the Greater Manchester Patient Services team directly.
Read more from Greater Manchester ICB
This update applies only to patients on the Clinical Partners waiting list whose NHS care is commissioned by Greater Manchester 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.
No. If you are already receiving ADHD medication, your regular reviews will continue as planned. If you have been diagnosed and are waiting to begin treatment, your care will also continue.
The pause only applies to new assessment bookings and does not affect ongoing ADHD medication or treatment.
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 Greater Manchester 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.
Greater Manchester 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.
We understand this can be confusing, especially when you’ve heard that new assessments are paused.
Under the NHS Right to Choose framework, patients still have the legal right to choose their preferred provider for an NHS-funded autism or ADHD assessment. Because of this, Clinical Partners continues to accept new referrals for patients from Greater Manchester ICB where a GP feels an assessment is clinically appropriate, and the patient chooses us as their provider.
However, Greater Manchester ICB has asked Clinical Partners to pause new assessment bookings until further funding becomes available. This means that while we can continue to accept referrals, we are not currently able to book new appointments for these patients.
New referral dates will still be protected, and once Greater Manchester ICB releases further funding, bookings will restart in referral date order.
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 Greater Manchester 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 Greater Manchester 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 beginning.
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.
If you would like to raise a concern, please contact the Greater Manchester Patient Services team directly.
Read more from Greater Manchester ICB
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.