£2m investment announced for Northern Ireland’s autism services

Health Minister Simon Hamilton has announced that he would be investing an additional £2m per year in Autism Services to tackle waiting lists and improve access to support services.

Demand for autism assessments currently substantially outstrips capacity to provide diagnostic services. This £2m of new recurrent funding will be invested in Autism diagnostic and post diagnostic services from April 2016.

“Since 2010 the number of referrals for autism assessments has nearly doubled from 1,500 to 2,800 at the end of last year. Despite the hard work of many dedicated professionals, we are struggling to match pace with demand. Many children and young people are waiting more than thirteen weeks for an assessment. This is not acceptable and I am determined to get these waiting lists down.

“That is why I am today announcing increased investment of an additional £2m for Autism services across Northern Ireland. This money will fund much needed new capacity to ensure there is quicker access to diagnostic services and that, crucially, there is more support for young people and their families.”

The new funding will be used to increase the capacity of the teams assessing young people in each of the Trusts; this will include recruiting clinical staff specially training in assessing Autism.

In addition, teams supporting young people with a diagnosis of Autism will be enhanced; this increased support will ensure improved access to wider support services including: Community Paediatrics, Speech and Language Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Psychology, CAMHS, Social Services or Educational Psychology.

Mr Hamilton added: “In tandem, I will continue to work with the Board and the Trusts to improve our processes and remodel our services to further drive down waiting lists and improve access to high quality services.”