Right to Choose (England)
Referring your patient
Here, you can learn more about our digital referral process, suitability criteria, waitlist, shared care policy, and risk information.
Getting started
Completing your patient’s self-report form
Your patient needs to complete a self-report form that you will submit on their behalf to us as part of the referral process. The self-report form can be completed in one of two ways:
Patient-led
Your patient provides you with a completed self-report form.
You or your support team can then upload it within our digital referral process.
GP-led
You wish to refer a patient but they have no self-report form.
You can complete the digital self-report form with your patient during an appointment, or capture the results on paper and then upload them.
Completing the self-report form can take up to 10 minutes, so it may not be possible to finish it within an appointment slot. Therefore, you are welcome to begin the process with your patient, and if time runs out, retain the information and complete it later.
Our services are not suitable to help in an emergency
If you have any specific questions or concerns, you can email us at:
help@problemshared.net or call us on 0203 835 2900
A note for GPs regarding our process for referring to shared care and local services
- We will continue prescribing and providing periodic reviews to your patient – irrespective of whether you (their GP) accept shared care, or whether local services accept the patient.
- Within our Right to Choose pathway, the patient is not receiving private care - they are receiving NHS-funded care through an NHS contract.
- We are not required to make a local services referral, but do so because we believe it is the best long-term outcome for the patient.
Get started with Right to Choose
How to refer your patient to our service
Follow the steps below to refer a patient to our service
Your patient requests a referral
Your patient presents their completed self-report form to you.
They ask to be referred to ProblemShared for an online assessment.
You make the referral
Check that your patient meets the suitability criteria for our service.
Complete our referral process.
Patient begins enrolment
You will receive email confirmation that we have received your referral.
We will then ask your patient to provide us with some important enrolment information.
The referral is reviewed
Our clinical team will review the referral.
If accepted, your patient will be asked to complete some pre-assessment forms.
When they have done so, they will join our wait list.
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We provide ongoing care
We will communicate with you and your patient throughout the entire journey to assessment.
If your patient fails to respond to our communications, or is not accepted into our service for any reason, we will notify you by email.
Frequently asked questions
Have a question?
You can find answers below to the things we get asked the most.
If you don’t see what you’re looking for, you can find more in our FAQ section.
How can I be assured that your Right to Choose digital referral process is safe and secure to use?
We provide a gold-standard digital platform, are fully GDPR-compliant, committed to data protection, and our IT systems are fully Cyber Essentials accredited (cert. c8c44ea1-273c-48e8-8906-13e3a63fde84). ProblemShared is also registered with the ICO, number: ZB567803.
ProblemShared meets the standards of the NHS Data Security and Protection Toolkit (“DSPT”) at: https://www.dsptoolkit.nhs.uk/OrganisationSearch/P6O4T.
Data is uploaded to our online Right to Choose referral portal using an encrypted connection from your computer to our servers, ensuring that your information is securely transmitted. Once received, your data is securely stored using advanced security measures and industry best practices. In addition to adhering to industry best practices in all our development processes, we conduct thorough security tests twice a year. These tests are complemented by automatic daily testing to identify and mitigate any potential vulnerabilities promptly.
I am a GP. Can I refer my patient for an assessment through Right to Choose if they have an existing NHS diagnosis for the same neurodevelopmental condition?
No. As a responsible healthcare provider, ProblemShared has a duty to protect NHS money and therefore we cannot assess individuals under Right to Choose for a condition for which they have an existing NHS diagnosis.
However, ProblemShared can assess individuals under Right to Choose who have an existing private diagnosis.
Patient suitablility for our service
As a responsible healthcare provider, we cannot accept patients into our service who do not meet our suitability criteria. ProblemShared carry out our assessments online.
Suitability
ProblemShared provides robust online assessments which are a convenient and accessible option for many people. However, an online environment is not always the best approach for everyone. ProblemShared states that an online neurodevelopmental clinical assessment or intervention is not suitable if the person wishing to access the service meets any of the following criteria:
- They are below the age 7 years old.
- They are non-verbal and/or selectively mute.
- They are unable to communicate at conversational level in English. For specific learning differences assessments, it is also a requirement to be able to communicate in written English.
- They have a significant intellectual impairment/ disability or severe development delay or an intellectual disability (IQ below 70).
- They have a significant visual or hearing impairment which means they are unable to access online assessments for specific learning differences and autism. In certain cases, we are able to support clients for ADHD assessments and appointments.
- They are currently psychotic, or have recently experienced a psychotic episode (within 3 months).
- They are currently deemed to pose a risk to themselves or others, have a plan or have acted to end their life in the past 3 months and/or are actively engaged in self-harming behaviour.
- They are currently awaiting an appointment or receiving treatment for an active eating disorder or have been discharged within the last 6 months from a specialist eating disorder clinic.
- Their drug and/or alcohol use is having a significant impact on their daily life or they are currently receiving active treatment for substance addiction.
- They have had an acquired or traumatic head injury, brain surgery/neurosurgery or have a neurological condition which has impacted on their cognitive function, which requires additional assessments that are not currently provided by ProblemShared.
- They have previously been assessed by the NHS for ADHD or autism and are seeking a second opinion assessment. When a private assessment has previously taken place, a second assessment review or full re-assessment can be offered.
- They are currently serving a prison sentence, are on probation or temporary release.
- They are undergoing a Safeguarding Investigation, have a child protection plan in place or are involved in an ongoing police or criminal investigation and cannot be seen until it has been concluded.
- They are currently detained in a hospital under the Mental Health Act 1983, or under a Community Treatment Order.
- They serve in the armed forces.
- They do not have access to a laptop or computer (please note that a laptop or desktop computer which is at least 15” in size is required for specific learning differences assessments). For autism and ADHD assessments, a tablet which is at least 10” and can be propped up to be used hands-free can also be used to access our service, but handheld devices such as mobile phones cannot.
- They do not have access to an internet connection in a private place.
- They or their child are not willing to conduct the assessment with their camera turned on for the duration of the assessment.
- They are not willing to confirm their identification in an online video call.
- They are not willing to provide the contact details for their UK based NHS GP.
Waitlist and risk information
- Before your patient can be accepted into our service, we will screen them for risk to ensure that our online assessment process is appropriate for their situation
- If your patient's risk profile means that we can responsibly accept them into our service, they will receive an email within 24 hours inviting them to register as a client with ProblemShared
- Your patient will then be asked to complete some pre-assessment forms, and when they have done this, your patient will be added to our wait list for an assessment
- Your patient will have access to a dashboard that will provide them with up to date information about wait times, as well as guides relating to the assessment process
- We will maintain contact with your patient every 12 weeks while they are on our waitlist, and we will ask the patient to update us directly if their risk profile changes
- If your patient’s risk profile does change and this change precludes us from providing them with an assessment, we will refer them back to your care
- We will not be in more frequent contact with your patient and, as such, we ask that you please continue to provide care for your patient on such basis as you consider is required, in addition to our own care
Do you declare that you have read our suitability criteria and that your patient is suitable for our service?