Around 150 Isle of Wight children are waiting to be assessed for autism with health chiefs warning it could take up to a year to see them all.
A “perfect storm” has been blamed for the huge backlog of referrals which could see parents — some of whom have already waited two years for an autism diagnosis for their children — forced to endure at least a further 12 month wait.
Council Inquiry
The crisis has prompted the Isle of Wight Council to launch an inquiry into the situation.
At a meeting of the authority’s policy and scrutiny committee for children’s services last night (Thursday), councillors heard work to clear the backlog would only start once a full team was in place.
So far, just one, part-time, consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist, Dr Jeremy Turk, has been hired by the Isle of Wight Clinical Commissioning Group.
It is unclear how many staff members the NHS are looking to hire.
Southampton service closed
As previously reported, the Autism Diagnostic Research Centre (ADRC) at Southampton, where Isle of Wight children are assessed, closed for new referrals last October and the service was taken on by the Isle of Wight NHS Trust.
Head of commissioning for children and young people, mental health and learning disabilities, Sue Lightfoot, said the ‘perfect storm’ of conditions had contributed to the backlog, including a growing number of cases being handled by the ADRC, an ‘experienced and mature staff group’ who chose to reduce their hours, and an unsuccessful recruitment campaign.
Churchman: “You must get on with it”
Chairman of scrutiny, Cllr Vanessa Churchman, said the council would hold an Inquiry into the situation, with a full report expected to be published in the autumn.
Addressing CCG representatives, she said:
“You must get on with it. Children are suffering.”
Brading: “We’ve let children down for nine months”
Cabinet member for children’s services, Cllr Paul Brading, said:
“I don’t care whether the fault lies with the CCG or the Trust. All I know is we have let children down for nine months.
“It has taken nine months to come up with one part-time person, and that just doesn’t seem enough.”
Ms Lightfoot said the CCG and Isle of Wight NHS Trust apologised to all the parents affected:
“We will do everything we can to sort this as quickly as we can and as safely as we can.”
Parent: “Feels more than ever, that nobody actually cares”
One parent, who asked to remain anonymous, said:
“Clearly very little has changed since the promises made at the public meetings in April.
“The only confirmed member of staff is the one they had already recruited, and the other person they mentioned at the meetings seems to have been quietly forgotten.
“Without a team, Dr Turk cannot run a service.
“Communication with parents is still non existent despite previous reassurances that this would change.
“The Trust didn’t even send someone from the Mental Health and Learning Disabilities department to talk to the scrutiny committee.
“It feels, more than ever, that nobody actually cares all that much about the people who are affected by this — disabled children and their families.”
Another added:
“Our son still can’t be assessed as there is no pathway in place and at the moment us and many, many other families are still pretty clueless on what will be happening with our children’s files which are sitting in a big pile somewhere on the Island.”
This article is from the BBC’s LDRS (Local Democracy Reporter Service) scheme, which OnTheWight is taking part in. Some additions by OnTheWight. Ed
