Neurodevelopmental Services

BLOFIELD SURGERY: PATIENT INFORMATION FOR NEURODEVELOPMENTAL SERVICES 

Due to increased requests for ADHD or Autism assessments, we hope the following information will be helpful in navigating the different referral processes and potential outcomes.  

Children (0-18) 

Referral to Local NHS Services for Assessment and Diagnosis 

Child is >6 years old  

If your child is >6 years of age and attends school then the school should make the referral for assessment, rather than the GP. This new referral pathway was created in June 2024 and recognises that schools are in a better position to gather the necessary information for referral. 

The following website outlines the referral process. This information can be passed to the school in case they are not yet aware of this new referral process.  

6 years plus Assessment Team | NCH&C (norfolkcommunityhealthandcare.nhs.uk) 

If your child is >6 years of age and is either home schooled or does not attend school at all, please book a routine appointment to discuss your concerns as these referrals in this category would be made by the GP 

Child is <6 years of old 

ADHD – ADHD referrals cannot be made until the child is 6 years old. If you have concerns, support can be accessed via Just One Norfolk if needed  

Autism – Please book a routine appointment to discuss concerns about autism with the GP. We can refer under the age of 6 if there are concerns about autism (for example if there are significant social communication problems). Your Health visiting team may also be a useful point of contact to discuss concerns.  

Referral via Right to Choose 

Referral via Right to Choose provides you the option of seeking assessment via a provider of your choice.  

In this circumstance: 

  • You need to investigate and decide which provider you would like to be referred to – we cannot recommend providers. We acknowledge there are many providers that can be accessed nationwide via the Right to Choose Pathway 
  • The Norfolk and Waveney Integrated Care Board (ICB) have currently approved four Right to Choose providers for ADHD and autism assessments: 
  • Once you have chosen a provider, please visit their website and ensure you have filled out all the pre-referral information (each provider will require something different to refer and without this information we will be unable to refer) 
  • Then contact the reception team at Blofield Surgery to ask for a referral to one of the listed providers and which condition you would like to be assessed for.  
  • If, following an assessment medication is prescribed, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to provide this medication, but each case will be reviewed on an individual basis  
  • Blofield Surgery will consider shared care prescribing on a case-by-case basis only if the assessment has been carried out by one of the above ICB approved assessment services.  
  • If we do take on shared care prescribing and the provider does not or is unable to fulfil their part of the shared care agreement, then we will not be able to continue prescribing specialist medications until back under NHS services (part of the safe prescribing of these medications means you must have annual review with the specialist whilst you remain on the medication) 
  • Please note that providers may periodically pause accepting any new referrals.   

 

 

 

BLOFIELD SURGERY: PATIENT INFORMATION FOR NEURODEVELOPMENTAL SERVICES 

Adults (>18 years) 

Referral to Local NHS Services for Assessment and Diagnosis 

 

ADHD 

For referral to local NHS services, please contact the reception team to book a routine GP appointment  

Autism 

You can self-refer for an NHS autism assessment via Autism Service Norfolk, using the link below. We advise that if you do this, please contact the reception team or complete an online Accurx Query form to inform us.  

Autism Service Norfolk | NCH&C (norfolkcommunityhealthandcare.nhs.uk) 

Right to Choose 

Referral via Right to Choose provides you the option of seeking assessment via a provider of your choice.  

In this circumstance: 

  • You need to investigate and decide which provider you would like us to refer to – we cannot recommend providers. We acknowledge there are many providers that can be accessed nationwide via the Right to Choose Pathway 
  • The Norfolk and Waveney Integrated Care Board (ICB) have currently approved four Right to Choose providers for ADHD and autism assessments: 
  • The Norfolk and Waveney Integrated Care Board (ICB) have approved four Right to Choose providers: 
  • Once you have chosen a provider, please visit their website and ensure you have filled out all the pre-referral information (each provider will require something different to refer and without this information we will be unable to refer) 
  • Then contact the reception team at Blofield Surgery to ask for a referral to one of the listed providers and which condition you would like to be assessed for.  
  • If, following an assessment medication is prescribed, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to provide this medication, but each case will be reviewed on an individual basis  
  • Blofield Surgery will consider shared care prescribing on a case-by-case basis only if the assessment has been carried out by one of the above ICB approved assessment services.  
  • If we do take on shared care prescribing and the provider does not or is unable to fulfil their part of the shared care agreement, then we will not be able to continue prescribing specialist medications until back under NHS services (part of the safe prescribing of these medications means you must have annual review with the specialist whilst you remain on the medication) 
  • Please note that providers may periodically pause accepting any new referrals.   

Blofield Surgery – Patient information for neurodevelopmental Services