Two clinicians from Sirona care & health were invited to appear as expert witnesses at the House of Lords Autism Act 2009 Committee last week.
The committee is currently reviewing the Autism Act 2009 and the government’s autism strategy, which comes to an end next year.
The Autism Act aims to improve services for autistic people including diagnosis, assessment, and post-diagnosis support, while the strategy aims for timely access to diagnosis and improved autism assessment pathways.
Vicki Bates, Lead for the Autism Assessment Service, and Dr Emma Bradley, Consultant Paediatrician, were invited as representatives from Sirona which provides an Autism Assessment Service for children and young people across Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire (BNSSG).
Speaking at the committee, Vicki Bates highlighted a lack of resources to cope with the increasing demand for referrals. She said: “The autism strategy is not reflective of the current demand and the exponential rise in numbers.
“All focus is based on a medical diagnostic model, but this is not adequately funded, and the lack of a diagnosis can be a hindrance to accessing support.”
There has been a significant increase in referrals for autism assessments across the UK over the past few years, leading to long waits for children and young people.
Sirona, the BNSSG Integrated Care Board and local Parent Carer Forums launched a Neurodiversity Transformation Programme in 2023 to look at ways to improve support for neurodivergent children and young people.
This has included piloting a neurodiversity profiling tool in several schools in the area to provide early identification of children’s needs, and ensuring families and schools can access resources and support without a diagnosis.
Vicki Bates and Emma Bradley stressed the need for the government’s new strategy to move away from a diagnostic model to focus on early support and prevention rather than a crisis response.
They said: “Most services are commissioned as assessment only, not support services. We need to move away from a diagnostic model to an early support model across the system which focuses on people’s needs. We need to remove the requirement to have a diagnosis to access things like benefits and access to work.”
You can find out more about the Neurodiversity Transformation Programme on the Healthier Together website.
