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Wes Streeting's move against autism - NAS - time to step up

mrs.snooks

I'm aware that this discussion may get a little heated, but I hope that it stays away from getting too much so. I do not mean to cause offense or lead to any arguments. So here goes.

I woke up to this morning's headlines: 

Health Secretary Wes Streeting is to launch an independent review into rising demand for mental health, ADHD, and autism services in England.

I haven't added the link to the article as I know this will trigger a delay to having this posted. But I'm thinking you will have seen this this morning. 

I am so angry on so many levels. And I am hoping that the NAS is angry too and can respond to his move with a firm and robust response. Because.

Now, I am going to call it out. Mr Streeting, I think that this is what I would be calling: Discrimination. Discrimination with a big, fat capital D. Discrimination against a marginalised group. A vulnerable group. That deserves your protection and that you should have our back. As the HEALTH secretary. Shame on you. Shame on you.

I may not respond to any responses to my thread, if it gets too heated. And I am happy for the thread to get locked or removed.

It's time to Step Up.

Parents
  • in reply to DormouseAtRest_25
    It would appear quite a number of people and organisations have been reading the Morbidity Survey, not least of which, NAS and also Autism Action:

    https://autismaction.org.uk/press-release/dont-underestimate-the-true-number-of-autistic-people-with-flawed-data-warns-charity/

    Various organisations have now been informed by NHS England about the withdrawal / reissue of a key report:

    https://www.facebook.com/100064546365581/posts/pfbid0irSSQKqV4V8gEZh1aUHvif4QeGrbdZ9wEBSSFuR4FVoGDQ41SnjgkPyTJuyif7Bl/

    LeDeR Report 2023 (published September 2025) - Learning from Lives and Deaths – people with a learning disability and autistic people:

    ...the LeDeR Report 2023 has now been withdrawn; due to a technical issue with some of the data - "...intend to re-publish an updated version in January 2026":
    In combination with - the recent publication of the:
    House of Lords Select Committee on the Autism Act 2009 Time to deliver: The Autism Act 2009 and the new autism strategy
    “The Government must now use our findings to fulfil its commitment to bring forward the new autism strategy on time in July 2026. We will judge the Government’s response against that commitment. Autistic people deserve nothing less.”
    ...and the 4 December 2025 Department of Health and Social Care announcement of a: "Review launched into mental health, ADHD and autism services":
    ...a lot of people / teams / departments and organisations are doing to be busy on these topics.
  • in reply to DormouseAtRest_25

    Thanks @DormouseAt Rest25

    I'm posting here what I just put of the autsm action f'book page:

    There is evidence that the hard work that goes into reports often goes unused or unnoticed - at least this one is getting some scrutiny and publicity. Mainly people see media summaries of reports. As has been the case recently, sometimes with "dog whistling" spin for political purposes. Reports regularly become a stalling tactic interfering with getting people what they really need. To quote Rutger Bregman in the third of this years Reith Lectures - himself quoting William Baumol: "Caring for the vulnerable, educating our children, and making beautiful art. "The real obstacle to having these things," Baumol warned, "is the illusion that we cannot afford them.""

    There is and will be millions of pounds spent on reports etc, etc.
    I am not suggesting that a free-for all take place in public health spending however the local services could use that money to redress the problem,,,
    I asked AI why is it that such bureaucratic b0ll0ck4 keeps happening again and again? (hehe well roughly that... :-)  )
    the response it gave is:
    "Essentially, the growth of bureaucracy stems from a combination of the public's demand for more government services and safety nets, the complex mechanisms designed to manage and hold these services accountable, and the internal dynamics of large organizations to perpetuate and expand themselves."
    I am not sure that I agree with this - it seems like blaming turkeys for xmas to me...
    the public give government money to look after the public - the government repeatedly don't seem to be very good at this... 
  • in reply to Phased
    • Health services are run like businesses this is the most disturbing aspect because funds are prioritised by managers in local government. I have been a trustee on a health charity and on the patients group at my local go surgery, the patterns are the same, both prioritise profit over service delivery. Truths about poor service delivery, people leaving the service and death are veiled by the way which performance information is presented to the public as an average. This is why gp surgeries and services are merging as this makes their performance seem an average to good rather than poor (because of the numbers if people in their catchment). They know all they have to do to receive more money. Duty of care is being overlooked in favour of the bottom line. This is a conflict of interest which the public are not aware, as it means services are slowly being cut using stealth.
Reply
  • in reply to Phased
    • Health services are run like businesses this is the most disturbing aspect because funds are prioritised by managers in local government. I have been a trustee on a health charity and on the patients group at my local go surgery, the patterns are the same, both prioritise profit over service delivery. Truths about poor service delivery, people leaving the service and death are veiled by the way which performance information is presented to the public as an average. This is why gp surgeries and services are merging as this makes their performance seem an average to good rather than poor (because of the numbers if people in their catchment). They know all they have to do to receive more money. Duty of care is being overlooked in favour of the bottom line. This is a conflict of interest which the public are not aware, as it means services are slowly being cut using stealth.
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