Dr. Amanda Burke:

There is no question that CAMHS has a role in autism. It is not that CAMHS excludes somebody who has a diagnosis of autism. All CAMHS teams will see someone with a diagnosis of autism and a moderate to severe mental illness. There are, however, barriers to assessment for autism. We know there are gaps in the disability teams and at primary care. This is where the diagnosis of autism is usually made. Through our single point of access, we are trying to smooth that pathway for parents so that the person does not have to be either in primary care or disability or CAMHS but can attend both simultaneously.

There are pilot areas that have been working through the autism protocol, which states that people can attend both services. In those areas, CAMHS have prioritised in-reach into the children's disability network teams, so they will join the CDNTs and do joint assessments and joint care planning together, which is obviously preferable for the families, rather than going from one service to the other. There is more work to be done and depending on the area of the country, there can be patchy coverage in terms of CDNTs, primary care and CAMHS. Some areas are experiencing more difficulties than others. We are working hard on this but we accept that for some people it is really difficult and we are very sorry.