Autism: Mental Health Services

(asked on 2nd September 2019) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing tailored mental health services for people diagnosed with autism.


Answered by
Caroline Dinenage Portrait
Caroline Dinenage
This question was answered on 9th September 2019

The National Autistic Society estimates that around 70-80% of autistic people will develop a mental health condition at some point in their lives. It is therefore critical that autistic people have equitable access to mental health services, with reasonable adjustments made where appropriate.

On 5 December 2018, the Government announced that we will be launching a comprehensive review of our autism strategy, ‘Think Autism’. This is to ensure it remains fit for purpose. The Government wants an autism strategy that works for all autistic people, and that is why, working very closely with the Department for Education, the Department of Health and Social Care will be extending the strategy to include children.

Under the NHS Long Term Plan, there will be a comprehensive expansion of mental health services, with an additional £2.3 billion in real terms by 2023/24. This will give 380,000 more adults access to psychological therapies and 345,000 more children and young people greater support in the next five years. The National Health Service will also roll out new waiting times to ensure rapid access to mental health services in the community for those that need it and expand crisis care.

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