Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi All
This is my first post. My nephew is on the ASD pathway and the most recent letter is that there is still a 2-3 year wait. He attempted his life last week and fortunately is physically ok. As he turns 18 soon, he has been left with zero support. I cannot seem to get a clear answer on if we should explore a private diagnosis. I've spoken to the Community Paedrtric team today who have confirmed that he will remain on the list he is on despite his age, and a suicide attempt is not grounds for pushing further up the list, that they cannot advise on private diagnosis, and do not have an NHS approved list of practitioners, and that any mediation required as a result of a private diagnosis would have to be paid for privately (i.e. no NHS prescriptions).
It's an absolute minefield to navigate and I feel hopeless in being able to support my family.
Any advice very welcome.
Thankyou
Once he is 18 he can get a fairly straightforward private adult autism assessment. This varies in price from around £600.00 to £2,000.00, but seems to average around the £1K mark. Under the 'Right to Choose' scheme a private autism assessment can be paid for by the NHS, but you need to convince your GP to apply for it. As the NHS does pay private autism assessment providers it is strange that your contacts in the NHS do not know of any. I was given a private diagnosis by Psychiatry UK ( https://psychiatry-uk.com/ ), which is used by the NHS through 'Right to Choose'. Following the receipt of my diagnosis, my GP prescribed medicines that the psychiatrist who diagnosed me recommended (for a co-morbid condition), so I had no problems with the NHS recognising my diagnosis.
Martin, thanks so much for your generous and kind response. He's been given detail of Psychiatry UK from the GP MH Team, but looking at the detail can't use until he's 18, unless it's done privately - another one to go back and check with the NHS. I wonder f we use someone from the list and get it done pre-18 (if possible), it might be more straightforward to have it recognized by the NHS in the future. Nothing appears to be remotely