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National Adult ADHD and ASD Clinic and Psychology Service temporary closure?

Daniel

Hi everyone,

I recently received an Autism diagnosis referral from my local GP in Lambeth (well, the referral was made at the beginning January) and after hearing nothing subsequent to the referral followed this up with the GP surgery only to receive a text message this morning stating;

'Please be aware that the National Adult ADHD and ASD Clinic and Psychology Service is temporarily closed to new National referrals. Unfortunately we cannot accept this referral as it was received during this period, it will not be processed or kept on file'

This is extremely frustrating. Has anyone else heard about this? Is their an alternative pathway for diagnosis that I can pursue via my GP/the NHS? I've recently moved to Merton, Surrey but have kept the same GP in Lambeth, would be a good idea to switch GPs to this borough as they may have a different referral process?

Any advice or info is greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Daniel

Parents

  • As far as I can see the statutory guidance for the autism act is still the 2015 version. This says "Local Authorities and NHS bodies should jointly: Ensure the provision of an autism diagnostic pathway for adults including those who do not have a learning disability ..." and in this context "should" has some legal force. Specifically "local authorities must 'follow the path charted by the guidance, with liberty to deviate from it where the authority judges on admissible grounds that there is good reason to do so, but without freedom to take a substantially different course.'"

    In short if the service is closed there is no pathway to diagnosis. Sure if they put you on a huge waiting list then it might feel that's the same thing as never but at least you move up the list even if very slowly. You are on a pathway. If they say they are accepting no referrals that's a dead end, hence not a pathway to diagnosis. So hypothetically you could take your local council to judicial review to challenge them on why they don't have a pathway as the guidelines say they should.

    That's a very expensive and complicated thing to do. I am not a lawyer, you should get legal advice, you should not treat this as legal advice. In any event if you've moved you should probably change GP first before your next step.

Reply

  • As far as I can see the statutory guidance for the autism act is still the 2015 version. This says "Local Authorities and NHS bodies should jointly: Ensure the provision of an autism diagnostic pathway for adults including those who do not have a learning disability ..." and in this context "should" has some legal force. Specifically "local authorities must 'follow the path charted by the guidance, with liberty to deviate from it where the authority judges on admissible grounds that there is good reason to do so, but without freedom to take a substantially different course.'"

    In short if the service is closed there is no pathway to diagnosis. Sure if they put you on a huge waiting list then it might feel that's the same thing as never but at least you move up the list even if very slowly. You are on a pathway. If they say they are accepting no referrals that's a dead end, hence not a pathway to diagnosis. So hypothetically you could take your local council to judicial review to challenge them on why they don't have a pathway as the guidelines say they should.

    That's a very expensive and complicated thing to do. I am not a lawyer, you should get legal advice, you should not treat this as legal advice. In any event if you've moved you should probably change GP first before your next step.

Children
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