Local democracy

Agenda item

AUTISM ASSESSMENTS FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE

The Director of Strategic Partnerships of Bradford and Craven Clinical Commissioning Groups will submit Document “E” which provides an update around the process and progress of work being undertaken to address the length of wait for autism assessment and diagnosis for Children and Young People.

 

Recommended-

 

That the update around the process and progress of work being undertaken to address the length of wait for autism assessment and diagnosis for Children and Young People be noted.

 

                                                            (Ruth Hayward – 01274 237714)

Minutes:

The Director of Strategic Partnerships of Bradford District and Craven’s Clinical Commissioning Groups submitted Document “E” which provided an update around the process and progress of work being undertaken to address the length of wait for autism assessment and diagnosis for Children and Young People.

 

The Board began consideration of the report with a frank discussion about the length of time that children and young people with autism were waiting to access appropriate services for their needs. Councillor representatives on the Board reported their experiences of case work which had led them to understand that waiting times were both lengthy and increasing. They were advised that this was a national issue and that, locally, additional non-recurrent funding had been allocated to address the issue and that a new working model had been tested and approved but not yet begun. It was considered that the additional funding would provide the opportunity to move to the new model. When fully implemented the new model would enable the autism diagnostic assessment to be completed within three months from the point of referral.

 

Concern was also raised about the shortage of appropriately qualified professional staff needed to support this group of children and young people.

 

The Board was informed that the report provided a snapshot of a particular point in time and did not explain the significant work that was now underway to improve the length of time to would take in the future for a diagnostic assessment to take place. The CCG was working with both Wakefield and Tees Esk and Wear Valleys NHS FT to identify different models.

 

The Chair expressed concern about the length of time that a child must wait for support after their initial assessment. She queried why the new working model had not yet begun and was informed that reasons included funding issues, recruitment of staff, conflicting priorities and enabling young people who had already commenced under the old pathway to complete their assessment, before fully moving to the new pathway for new referrals. It was noted that where possible elements of the new pathway had been adopted within the current process. The issue of Bradford having the youngest population in the country was also highlighted as a factor affecting the number of children and young people waiting for services.

 

The Board acknowledged that commissioning processes must be followed to enable funding to be released to providers to implement the new model. However the Board urged all those involved to examine whether things could be done differently to reduce the time required for the switch.

 

Councillor representatives reiterated their concerns based on their caseloads and queried what support a child received whilst on the waiting list. They were informed that each child should be allocated a key worker who would stay with them throughout the assessment process.

 

It was agreed that feedback to understand people’s experiences would be extremely useful.

 

Resolved-

 

That the update around the process and progress of work being undertaken to address the length of wait for autism assessment and diagnosis for Children and Young People be noted and the following points in particular be followed up and reported on at a future meeting:-

·         The production of a timeline for transitioning to the new model of provision.

·         An explanation of the support that is provided while a young person is on the waiting list.

·         An explanation of the engagement undertaken with young people and families to support the proposed changes to Autism Services.

·         The statistical information on the monthly fluctuations in assessments completed to be provided to all Board Members.

 

ACTION:Director of Strategic Partnerships of Bradford and Craven Clinical Commissioning Groups                                                         

Supporting documents: