Children and Young People (11-17) Specialist Autism Assessment and Diagnosis Services in Suffolk (excluding Waveney).

The aims of the service are to.

•To provide a comprehensive and seamless assessment and diagnostic service that meets the needs of children, young people who may have autistic spectrum disorder.

•To provide a multidisciplinary model of assessment that is adapted to the social, communication, intellectual, and sensory needs of the young people being assessed.

•To provide a post diagnostic feedback and report for the patient and their family/parent/carer and report for the referrer and GP to enable their ongoing needs. Copy of report to NSFT for patient record.

•To provide signposting to support services for CYP diagnosed with ASD and for those who did not have an ASD diagnosis but need other support services.

•A service that is adapted to the social, communication, intellectual, and sensory needs of people with ASDs.

•To identify unmet needs for young people who do and do not meet the criteria for a diagnosis and provide guidance on how these needs can be met providing feedback to the young person, their family and the referrer and GP.

•To provide good customer care to service users and their parent/carers.

•A service consistent with NICE and other DOH guidance

•CQC registered.

•Provide a diagnostic conversion rate in line with the national average.

•Provide a range of assessment methods to meet the needs of the diversity of the patient group

•Provide pre-assessment support and information to ensure realistic expectations

•To respond to any queries about the assessment from the young person, parent/carer, refer and or GP..

Outcomes

•To enable the improved psychological and mental wellbeing of Children and Young People with ASD and their parents and carers in Suffolk in the short-term, and to reduce use of health and mental health services in the long-term.

•To provide recommendations following assessment that helps empower people with autism to lead a fulfilling life living as independently as possible.

•To reduce the waiting time for Autism assessment in Suffolk for the 11–17-year age group and bring in-line with the national standard.

•To reduce health inequalities for children and young people in reducing the waiting times for autism assessment in Suffolk

•To provide a good service as rated by feedback from children, young people and their families one they would recommend in line with Friends and Family Test feedback.

Location of service delivered.

The location of the service will be Ipswich and Bury St Edmunds with the provision of suitable clinical space provided by the provider of the service. This will include space to store essential materials and equipment, 2 clinic rooms per site with the capacity for 2 service users and 2 clinicians per room.

Service delivery hours of operation

The service will operate at least Monday to Friday 9.00am to 5.00pm with weekend flexibility to meet user’s needs.

Standards and guidance

The service will comply with all relevant national standards and recommendations as detailed in.

•The Autism Act 2009

•National Strategy for autistic children, young people, and adults, 2021

•Autism spectrum disorder in under 19s: recognition, referral, and diagnosis Clinical guideline [CG128] Published: 28 September 2011 Last updated: 20 December 2017

•NICE guideline [NG197] Shared decision-making learning package, June 2021

•NHS England national framework to deliver improved outcomes in all-age autism assessment pathways: guidance for integrated care boards 2023