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<p>The Department has discussed with NHS England the difficulties that people on the
autistic spectrum can have in getting an appropriate diagnosis in a timely manner.
With support from the Department, NHS England and the Association of Directors of
Social Services will undertake a series of visits to clinical commissioning groups
(CCGs) to gather information that can be shared between areas that have arrangements
in place to meet National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Quality
Standard 51 Autism: support for commissioning, and those that do not, with the aim
of supporting more consistent provision. These NICE guidelines already recommend that
there should be a maximum of three months between a referral and a first appointment
for a diagnostic assessment for autism. We expect the National Health Service to be
working towards meeting the recommendations.</p><p>NHS England has also been working
with the Health and Social Care Information Centre to develop the Mental Health Minimum
Data Set. This will include provision for the diagnosis of autism to be recorded.
This mandatory data set will, for the first time, provide data about diagnosis rates.
The data will be published and available for everyone to use to support and develop
services. NHS England has a commitment, over the next five years, to improve waiting
times and this data will be invaluable for this. Information on average waiting times
for autistic diagnosis in each clinical commissioning group area is not collected
centrally.</p><p>The Department issued new statutory guidance in March this year for
local authorities and NHS organisations to support the continued implementation of
the 2010 Autism Strategy, as refreshed by its 2014 Think Autism update. This guidance
sets out what people seeking an autism diagnosis can expect from local authorities
and NHS bodies including general practitioners.</p><p>We are due to consult on how
we set the mandate to NHS England prior to publication of the mandate itself. The
mandate will be published following the Government’s Spending Review which is due
to complete on 25 November.</p>
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