Published on 12, July, 2020
My GP referral for a formal Autism Spectrum Condition assessment was rejected and not processed because there was no indication of whether I was aware of and have consented to the assessment and also the clinical rationale for the assessment was not provided.
I discussed the need for an assessment with the GP and obviously this was discussed and agreed by me.
What clear clinical reason do they need?
Even the GP received the rejection response after they asked about the referral. That only happened because I asked for an update as I had not received anything in four weeks time. Although, they have confirmed that they have sent me a copy of the letter but I still have not received it. The letter says the copies were sent to me and the GP. I have not received my copy and the GP only received it because they requested it. The GP forwarded me a copy of their copy of the letter. Also, the letter says: ''No action required''. I suspect that they simply wanted to ignore me. This is ridiculous.
I am really upset. Is this a way to put people off and delay things?
Now I will need to book a new GP appointment which is a huge problem to me.
Almost two months are now wasted only by doing this.
This is going to cost me time and money.
Sorry to hear of your troubles. My GP knew nothing about autism so I downloaded a copy of the referral form from my County's autism provider website, filled it all in myself, then added 6 extra sheets of "proof" from my own perspective of why I think I have autism (autistic traits, the way I think about things, social difficulties, and lots of real-world examples). I handed it it my GP and told her to sign it and send it off to the autism people as a referral, which she was happy to do. This was how I got my initial assessment.
I think the "rationale" relates to how having autism is affecting your ability to live life, for example if you're having issues at work which you can attribute to autism, or you can't go food shopping because there's too many people in the store, or you have a deficiency in social skills that is making you isolated, resulting in you not being able to do the other things that "normal" people do as part of their normal lives. It's about the impact that it has on your life and your ability to function as a human being.
If you want the assessment, keep pushing for it. Ask specifically what evidence you need to provide, and maybe just fill the forms in yourself. Note that although I filled the forms in myself, I had to get my GP to send them off, because the autism provider in my County does not accept self-referrals - just find out what the process is where you live, and follow it as best you can.
Thank you so much for the comment and this information!
This is really helpful!
I will try to find the forms and fill them myself.