Chair of the Cross Party Group on Autism and North Wales Assembly Member Mark Isherwood has hit out at the Welsh Government for continuing to get it “sadly, very, very and sometimes tragically wrong” when it comes to ensuring that autistic people have access to the support they need.
Responding to yesterday’s Statement in the Assembly Chamber by the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Services: ‘The Autistic Spectrum Disorder Strategic Action Plan’, Mr Isherwood said the vast amount of autism-related casework his office is handling and the personal stories from outside of North Wales they are receiving indicates that huge sums of money continue to be spent getting it, sadly, very, very and sometimes tragically wrong.
He said:
“How do you respond to concerns raised with me that one of the four Integrated Autism Service, or IAS, areas where the service has been launched are now saying they just want to become a diagnostic service and lose their Support Worker function? Another area is already making representations that, despite already receiving an extra £150,000 to £170,000 annually from their Local Authorities and Health Board on top of their IAS funding, they can't cope with the level of referrals they're receiving, and these are medical, not social referrals, not focused on prevention and intervention.
“Concern has been expressed to me that the majority of people accessing current non-IAS services will disappear or present in crisis. There is a concern about the lack of numbers being picked up by the IAS and the lack of services from IAS to pick up the slack from third sector bodies that, progressively, are losing local financial support, despite being supported sometimes by hundreds of local members of the autism community.
Mr Isherwood also asked how the Welsh Government is responding to the recommendations contained in the Interim Independent Evaluation of its Autism Strategy and Integrated Autism Service, which found weaknesses and inconsistencies in both assessment and diagnostic services for adults with autism, and in support services for adults and children with autism. It said 'Success requires a co-productive approach involving staff, service users and carers in the design, implementation and evaluation of the IAS' but there are concerns about the ‘top-down approach’, which they said had 'stifled this'.
“With the service being launched in North Wales on 27 June, what action will you be taking when you learn of stories that I raised last week, such as those of the Judicial Review proceedings settled recently, prior to a full hearing, when Flintshire Council agreed to provide a formal apology and make a damages award after failing to assess and meet the needs of an autistic young person with additional needs, and to take full account of her parent carer’s needs?
“That's just one case. I have I don't know how many similar cases—primarily but not exclusively in Flintshire—at the moment. How would you respond to the Flintshire parent who e-mailed me yesterday regarding the response to her Flintshire CAMHS complaint, which said, 'Your daughter doesn't have an ongoing anxiety condition', and was simply an apology for poor communication, but they had been forced to a private Psychiatrist because of lack of care, who has diagnosed the daughter with severe PTSD, depression and anxiety? She says, 'We're now glad we're getting treatment and a recommendation for home tutoring, thanks to our private Psychiatrist, but my daughter should have received this when she asked Flintshire CAMHS for help six months ago’.
Mr Isherwood also questioned the Cabinet Secretary over the genderised issue, stating “I've raised this many times, but I'm still almost daily receiving casework where girls clearly requiring autism diagnoses are being told they couldn't possibly have a diagnosis” because of “teaching staff who report no or minimal issues in the school environment…..when a wealth of national and international research and evidence directly contradicts that, in relation to the masking and coping strategies that many children, and particularly girls, adopt”.
Mr Isherwood added: “Why is this pig-headed Labour Welsh Government not working with the autism community to learn from the problems identified in the four Local Health Board areas where the IAS service is already operating, rather than rolling it out and railroading it through, damaging warts and all?”