£500k plan to cut autism waits as 1,700 Barnsley children face up to three-year delays
The money would be used to expand the number of people carrying out assessments
Barnsley Council is set to approve a £500,000 funding boost to tackle a growing backlog of children waiting for autism assessments, with 1,689 children currently on the waiting list and some families facing waits of more than three years.
The money would be used to expand capacity within the Autism Spectrum Disorder Assessment Team (ASDAT) and bring in additional clinicians to speed up assessments for children and young people at key points in their education.
Council documents show demand has risen sharply in recent years. While the service was originally commissioned to assess 25 children a month, referrals now average 64 a month, with only around 39 assessments completed monthly, causing the waiting list to continue growing.
The £500,000 would come from corporate reserves and would fund both extra in-house capacity at Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, which runs ASDAT, and the temporary insourcing of an external provider. The aim is to increase the number of assessments carried out over a short period while longer-term reforms are developed.
Of the funding, £100,000 would pay for additional clinical hours and a short-term locum to help the existing ASDAT team complete assessments that are already under way. Council officers say this would allow around 159 extra assessments to be carried out.
The remaining £400,000 would be used to bring in a specialist assessment team made up of paediatricians, speech and language therapists, psychologists and administrative staff. This team would work alongside the hospital service, delivering assessments during evenings and weekends at children’s outpatient facilities.
The additional capacity would be targeted at children and young people approaching major transition points, where delays in diagnosis can be particularly disruptive. This includes 99 children in Year six preparing to move to secondary school, 96 young people in Year 11 approaching the end of GCSEs, and 72 young people in Year 13 moving into further education, work or independent living. Many in these groups have already been waiting between one and three years for an assessment.
Council officers say focusing on these stages should help reduce distress for children and families and prevent increased reliance on other services later on.
The report describes the investment as a short-term measure, alongside longer-term work with health, education and social care partners to redesign the autism assessment pathway and reduce future backlogs.
The proposal will be considered by cabinet on January 7. If approved, parents, carers and staff will be informed when the extra assessment capacity is expected to begin.