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Database for GP surgeries with autism experience

NAS64261

Hi,

this is going to be a kind of a long shot but I am posting this as a reaction to my GP appointment that I had this morning.

I am late diagnosed with autism and have had no support or treatment from any NHS department directly relating to my neurodiversity, apart from the lengthy process and waitlist to receive my diagnosis. On and off I have been with the mental health team to address my depression, anxiety and mood swings, and although I felt listened to in the initial first response team assessments and in the first two CBT sessions, they were unable to offer ongoing support, in their own words they chose to address the symptoms and not be bothered with the causes. One psychotherapist even bluntly said that if I was not progressing then that was because I wasn't trying hard enough to work on my condition!

Back to today's appointment, explaining to my GP that I had autism and was going through autistic burnout and circadian rhythm disorder, I directly asked if there was a GP that knew about autism and provide the adequate approach and support. His simple answer was no. I then asked if there was a database for GP surgeries that listed doctors or nurses specialised or experienced with autistic patients and he again said no and that I would have to do the field research work myself.

His response (forget about the lack of empathy)  shocked me. NHS databases exist to look up specialists such as dietitians, diabetic nurses, paediatricians, urologists etc. practicing at GP surgeries, they can even be filtered for patients requiring accessibility and Loop, but they throw a blind eye at people with autism or ADHD?

Any feedback or hints are much appreciated.  

Parents
  • NAS64261 said:
    NHS databases exist to look up specialists such as dietitians, diabetic nurses, paediatricians, urologists etc. practicing at GP surgeries, they can even be filtered for patients requiring accessibility and Loop, but they throw a blind eye at people with autism or ADHD?

    I think you are compang apples and oranges here.  The databases of specialists are made up of people with specific roles (their specialisations) whereas you are looking at GPs (the key is in the word general) who have to know a little about a great many health issues.

    Training around neurodivergence is required by the NHS as I understand it, but there is no timeframe for its completion or standards of knowledge measured, so it is largely ignored in the conflicting demands of a service that is already very overstretched in just doing its core service to sick patients.

    There are a great many conditions that fall under the umbrella of neurodivergence of which autism is only one and the knowledge changes with every year. Finding a GP who has the time to learn about these conditions will be very hard and many have little exposure to the area at all.

    In a nutshell there just isn't the knowledge out there or anything that will make sure there is.

    Things do seem to be slowly changing but I expect this to take many decades to come to the level you want it to be at.

    This is all just my opinion of course.

  • in reply to Iain

    And then one wonders why high functioning autism ranks as the group of with largest percentage of suicide ideators. . For a 'health' service that's pretty sick.

Reply Children
  • in reply to Iain

    I did the quick maths. 40% of my council tax bill alone goes to adult social services. Imagine how many potholes could be filled,  wardens employed to efficiently tackle public ASB, and SENDs added to offer vulnerable children more equal opportunities. And that's just talking about redirecting council expenses. 

    Obviously it's not efficiency what Westminster priorities, but votes. And in an aging society it would be a highly unpopular move to steal the candy from a  geriatric.

  • in reply to NAS64261
    NAS64261 said:
    Well if that isn't a view that views people as cost/benefit cases I wonder what is.

    I wrote this to demonstrate how the NHS will view it - they have to do it as a cost / benefit analysis as their duty is to help the most people possible with the little resource they have.

    NAS64261 said:
    I rather cut all adult social services and life saving surgery for 60+ in that case.

    Have you looked at how many people would be affected using your methodology? Someone has to make these decisions and it is a thankless task. Whoever misses out will naturally think they are more deserving.

    I don't offer any solutions as I know how complex and difficult the decisions are.

  • in reply to Iain

    Well if that isn't a view that views people as cost/benefit cases I wonder what is. I rather cut all adult social services and life saving surgery for 60+ in that case. Much more would be saved and it would be way for profitable,. especially in times of outdated and overstretched welfare systems.

    This isn't my personal viewpoint btw.

  • in reply to NAS64261
    NAS64261 said:
    And then one wonders why high functioning autism ranks as the group of with largest percentage of suicide ideators. .

    Being realistic about it, the cost to recruit, train and deploy enough mental health specialists is enormous - far more than many other areas of health where the same expenditure could result in much better returns.

    Personally I think we need to learn to look after ourselves in the short to mid term as we are really the only ones who care enough amd have a vested interest in any improvement.