Freedom of Information Team
Our Ref: FOI/2022.1082/MS
The Oast
Date: 17 February 2022
Unit D, Hermitage Court
Hermitage Lane
Barming
Ms Charlotte Cornell
Maidstone
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx
ME16 9NT
Phone: 01622 211900
Dear Ms Cornell
Email: xxxx.xxx@xxx.xxx
Web: www.kentcht.nhs.uk
Request for information under the Freedom of Information Act
Thank you for your email received 1 February 2022 requesting information regarding ASD
diagnostic wait times.
Please find detailed below a summary of your request, together with our response.
Summary of your original request:
1. How many children and young people with possible autism who were referred for a
diagnostic assessment had the assessment started within 3 months of their referral?
Please provide this information as a number and as a percentage for the following date
periods:
(a) April 2017-March 2018
(b) April 2018-March 2019
(c) April 2019-March 2020
(d) April 2020-March 2021
(e) April 2021-The day you submit your response to me (2022)
I already have this data from previous years, as you have previously replied to FOI
requests for the same data for earlier date ranges.
Due to current demand and available capacity for this diagnostic pathway, none of the patients
had the autism specific assessment started within 3 months of their referral.
2. What was a) the median and b) the longest wait for the start of the diagnostic
assessment? I am requesting the data for the same time periods as detailed in question 1.
Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust (KCHFT) does not hold this information in relation
to previous years, we can only provide a point in time response. Therefore, at this point in time
(February 2022) the longest wait for the start of the diagnostic assessment is 27 months
(2.3 years). We are unable to provide the median wait, but the average wait is 24 months
(2 years).
3. As of February 2022, how many children and young people have been waiting longer
than 18 weeks for an initial assessment and are still yet to be seen by the service?
As of February 2022, 587 children have been waiting longer than 18 weeks. Please note that this
figure relates to all children referred to the community paediatric service, not just those who may
go on to be added to the autism diagnostic pathway.
If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request, you have the right to ask for an internal
review. Internal review requests should be submitted within two months of the date of receipt of
the response to your original letter and should be addressed to:
xxxx.xxx@xxx.xxx
.
Please remember to quote the reference number in any future communications.
If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have the right to apply directly
to the Information Commissioner for a decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted
at: Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, and Cheshire,
SK9 5AF.
Yours sincerely
Freedom of Information Act Team
Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust copyright
Re-use of information
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confer an automatic right for you to re-use that information, for example, to publish it.
If you wish to re-use the information that we provide and you do not specify this in your initial
application for information then you must make a further request for its re-use as per the Re-Use
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ations 2015 www.opsi.gov.uk. This will not affect your initial
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will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders. Any enquiries regarding this
document/publication should be sent to us at the address above.
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