What to ask
- Ask whether the service keeps a cancellation or short-notice list.
- Say which days or times you could realistically accept at short notice.
- Ask whether telephone or video appointments are available as well as face-to-face care.
- Ask how much notice they normally give and whether declining a short-notice slot affects your ordinary place in the queue.
Make sure flexibility is actually workable
- Do not promise to be available at any time if work, childcare, travel or health makes that impossible.
- Keep the service number saved in your phone if they tell you what number they call from.
- Check voicemail and messages regularly, but do not feel you need to watch your phone constantly.
A cancellation list is not the whole plan
- Keep your normal referral active unless the service tells you otherwise.
- Ask what interim support is available while you wait.
- If your mental health gets worse, update the service or your GP; a cancellation list is not an urgent-care route.
Keep it manageable
You do not have to solve the whole waiting period today. Pick the smallest useful next step: save a number, write down a question, send one message or ask someone you trust to sit with you while you call.
Trusted sources and next steps
NHS England: accessing Talking Therapies digitally ↗NHS: talking therapies ↗General UK information, not a diagnosis or personal treatment plan. Services and pathways vary by area and UK nation. Information reviewed 31 August 2026.