Earlier this month five local clinical commissioning groups considered the idea of restricting an autism diagnosis to only the most severe cases. Nothing has been decided yet, but the National Autistic Society says it is “deeply concerned” about the plans.
The local CCGs cover Kingston, Merton, Richmond, Wandsworth and Sutton. The National Autistic Society has written in protest to these five CCGS saying that this could lead to many local children without access to a diagnosis and unable to access the support they require.
Sarah Lambert, the charity’s head of policy, said: –
“We believe this goes against CCGs’ legal duty to make sure children in their area can access a diagnosis service”
The consensus is that these proposals have been decided, without due consideration of the impact upon families, children and young people. The five CCGs have responded to this by saying that no decision has been made and no change will happen in the next 12 months.
