Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that mental health services are equipped to support autistic women and girls who may present with (a) high anxiety and (b) sensory distress in Manchester Rusholme constituency.

We know that autistic people, including women and girls, can face challenges in accessing mental health services.

While it is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including the provision of mental health support for autistic people in Manchester Rusholme, we are taking action to increase awareness and understanding of autism within health and adult social care services. Under the Health and Care Act 2022, providers registered with the Care Quality Commission are required to ensure their staff receive specific training on learning disability and autism appropriate to their role.

To support this, we have been rolling out the Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training on Learning Disability and Autism to the health and adult social care workforce. The first part of this training has now been completed by over three million people.

NHS England has also rolled out additional training across mental health services. 5,000 trainers have been trained as part of the National Autism Trainer Programme and this training covers autism presentation in women and girls. These trainers will cascade their training to teams across mental health services.

NHS England also commissioned the Royal College of Psychiatrists to deliver the National Autism Training Programme for Psychiatrists, with over 300 psychiatrists trained in the past three years.

Furthermore, NHS England has published guidance on how to improve the quality, accessibility, and acceptability of care and support for autistic adults to meet their mental health needs, as well as guidance on adaptations of NHS Talking Therapies for autistic people.