Medical staff in the UK’s national health service are still not being trained to support people with autism, an inquiry has found.
The Westminster Commission on Autism discovered that many NHS staff have still not received any autism training, despite requirements laid out in the Autism Act 2009.
Barry Sheerman MP: many NHS staff “still have had no autism training whatsoever nor are supported in consulting with autistic patients. This must change now”
The Autism Act should guarantee awareness within the health service of the estimated 700,000 people in the UK with autism, the Commission’s study says.
The Commission has called on Jeremy Hunt, the health secretary, to remind clinical commissioning groups of their obligations to ensure that staff have the relevant skills to support autistic people.
Call for more training of medical staff
It called on the NHS to train medical staff to support people with autism so that the patients do not feel they receive inadequate treatment.
In extreme cases, inadequate treatment has led to the death of autistic people within the NHS’s care. The death in 2013 of Connor Sparrowhawk by drowning in a bath at residential unit run by Southern Health, an NHS foundation trust, is the most high-profile example.
A shocking report by audit firm Mazars that was commissioned by NHS England in 2014 at the request of Connor’s family, found that Southern Health had failed to properly investigate the deaths of more than 700 people with learning disabilities or mental health problems between 2011 to 2015.
Against this backdrop, the Westminster Commission has recommended for GPs to report when they have a patient with autism. This information could be used to compile an anonymous national register to calculate UK mortality statistics for individuals with an autism diagnosis.
Worse or much worse treatment
The views of around 900 people with autism, parents and professionals were included in the Commission’s report. They reveal an overwhelmingly poor view of the care given to people with autism, with nearly nine in ten (88%) of the autistic participants saying that they do not think health professionals understand their needs.
The report points out that people with autism often have a sensitivity to lights, sounds, smells, tastes and touch. This could make it difficult for them to concentrate in hospitals or doctors’ surgeries. The report also says that they can find it very hard to tell the doctor what is wrong, that they do not always have someone to remind them to get help with their health or to help them access health services.
Secondary conditions
In addition, the report says that doctors do not always understand that people with autism often have secondary conditions, such as ADHD, epilepsy or a mental health problem. Even if health professionals are aware of an autistic person’s mental health condition, they may not know how to help.
Barry Sheerman, MP for Huddersfield and the founder of the inquiry, said: “Our health professionals are committed and well intentioned. However, despite the Autism Act, many still have had no autism training whatsoever nor are supported in consulting with autistic patients. This must change now.”
He called for annual health checks and for NHS England to appoint a national clinical director for autism.
Published: 7 July 2016
