Declined an assessment...

The NHS is in crisis and pressures upon diagnostic services have been increasing in recent years. I have seen mention on here of people being told that waiting lists are in excess of 5 years. The NHS have increasingly been subcontracting out to private providers to try and reduce lists. Additionally people seeking diagnosis have increasingly been asking to be seen through the 'right to choose' route to reduce waiting times.

The effect of all of the above is that commissioners are trying to solve the 'problem' using various methods, one of which is restricting access to diagnostic assessments. It is unfortunately a postcode lottery and people in some areas will have a much harder time than others. Essentially it fundamentally is about saving money, like most things in the NHS.

For example commissioners in North Yorkshire have introduced a new policy whereby:

"adults who approach their GP seeking an autism and/or ADHD diagnosis will be refused access to assessment unless they meet one or more of the following criteria:

1. Immediate self-harm or harm to others. A mental health assessment must have been undertaken and a crisis management plan in place.
2. Risk of being unable to have planned life-saving hospital treatment, operations, or care placement
3. Imminent risk of family court decisions determined on diagnosis e. g family breakdown, custody hearing"

https://community.autism.org.uk/f/introduce-yourself/33844/hello-from-yorkshire/323261#323261

Perhaps that's what they meant by 'at this time'. They are waiting for you to reach crisis point first, in a similar way to how most of NHS mental health services operates. All you can do is keep fighting and try not to take it too personally. The system is broken 

Autonomistic said:

For example commissioners in North Yorkshire have introduced a new policy whereby:

"adults who approach their GP seeking an autism and/or ADHD diagnosis will be refused access to assessment unless they meet one or more of the following criteria:

1. Immediate self-harm or harm to others. A mental health assessment must have been undertaken and a crisis management plan in place.
2. Risk of being unable to have planned life-saving hospital treatment, operations, or care placement
3. Imminent risk of family court decisions determined on diagnosis e. g family breakdown, custody hearing"

That’s so unfair! It means many of our autistic community members will not have access to confirmation of their own identity.

I obviously understand why though as the NHS is overstretched.

Also, it perpetuates the cycle that happens when many autistic people are only identified when at crisis point and therefore associate their autistic experience with distress.

Autonomistic said:

For example commissioners in North Yorkshire have introduced a new policy whereby:

"adults who approach their GP seeking an autism and/or ADHD diagnosis will be refused access to assessment unless they meet one or more of the following criteria:

1. Immediate self-harm or harm to others. A mental health assessment must have been undertaken and a crisis management plan in place.
2. Risk of being unable to have planned life-saving hospital treatment, operations, or care placement
3. Imminent risk of family court decisions determined on diagnosis e. g family breakdown, custody hearing"

That’s so unfair! It means many of our autistic community members will not have access to confirmation of their own identity.

I obviously understand why though as the NHS is overstretched.

Also, it perpetuates the cycle that happens when many autistic people are only identified when at crisis point and therefore associate their autistic experience with distress.