Waiting times in Essex for autism / Asperger's syndrome diagnosis range from 2 DAYS to 2 YEARS.

Waiting for an internal review by Essex County Council of their handling of this request.

Dear Councillor Madden,

You were asked this question at the full Essex County Council meeting on 12 July 2016:

‘Autism is a major issue facing many families across Essex and a key concern for many of them is the consistency of diagnostic service for adults. I understand there are three different diagnostic services for different parts of the county because they are commissioned by separate CCGs and provided by different NHS Trusts. There currently seems to be an inconsistency of referral route, waiting lists, and support offered all based on where you live in the county.
What steps is the Cabinet Member going to take to ensure a high quality consistent diagnostic service is made available to all residents in Essex regardless of where they may live?’

The answer was that the diagnostic waiting times are anything from 2 DAYS to 2 YEARS depending on where you live in Essex.

(From what I know - even if the person is suicidal.)

A follow up question to you asked would you support a full Scrutiny Review into why there were such discrepancies in waiting times so that those people who were responsible could be held to account. You said you would support such a review.

I would like to know what action has / is being / is to be taken to address this URGENT matter? Has an investigation / scrutiny review been set up?

In cooperation with Essex NHS?
What is the NHS Essex going to do to remedy this appalling situation, have they told you?

After diagnosis, what support will be offered to people with autism / Asperger's syndrome across Essex?

When people with autism / Asperger's syndrome or their carer / parent ring up the number for Social Care, for a Care Act Assessment, a decision is made as to eligibility for support for social care BEFORE any Care Act Assessment is made, which goes against the legislation, and this is done quite assertively and dismissively, even if you say the person concerned is suicidal. They are pushed on to local MH services, which DO NOT support people with autism - no preventative or emergency support, and the waiting list for the South Essex Autism Service is TWO YEARS, for example.
Essex Social Care gatekeepers are either blissfully autism unaware or deliberately trained to be gatekeepers - which is it? The core difficulties of autism, are TOTALLY neglected by Essex CC and NHS, so the person deteriorates into MH eligibility - but there are no MH services for them.

There is NO support for carers either. NONE.

Thank you,

Kind regards,

P. Smith.

Dear Essex County Council,

Attn: Cllr Dick Madden

Your response to the County Councillor's question at full council meeting 12th July 2016, clearly implied that YOU & the rest of Essex County Council ALREADY KNEW about this dire and impossible situation for people with autism and their carers in Essex, yet what have you or Essex County Council or local Essex NHS areas done to address this? NOTHING!

PLUS, when I have tried to highlight the problems by asking questions I am treated as persona non grata, ignored or condescendingly and patronisingly dismissed. Which is not very nice, is it?

Yours faithfully,

P. Smith

Your Right To Know, Essex County Council

Dear Ms Smith,

We acknowledge receipt of your email, please note that as this has been marked for the attention of Councillor Madden it has been forwarded to him and will not be processed under the Freedom of Information Act.

Kind Regards

Your Right To Know
Transparency Team
Essex County Council
T: 033301 38989
E: [email address]
W: www.essex.gov.uk

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Your Right To Know, Essex County Council

Dear Ms Smith,

We acknowledge receipt of your email, please note that as this has been marked for the attention of Councillor Madden it has been forwarded to him and will not be processed under the Freedom of Information Act.

Kind Regards

Your Right To Know
Transparency Team
Essex County Council
T: 033301 38989
E: [email address]
W: www.essex.gov.uk

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Dear Your Right To Know,

Thank you.

Please forward a copy of my request addressed to your FoI department.

Yours sincerely,

P. Smith

Your Right To Know, Essex County Council

Dear Ms Smith,

As your original email was marked for the attention of Councillor Madden it was not processed as a FOI request, please confirm if you would like it to be dealt with as one and we will log accordingly.

Kind Regards

Your Right To Know
Transparency Team
Essex County Council
T: 033301 38989
E: [email address]
W: www.essex.gov.uk

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Dear Your Right To Know,

Yes, please deal with it as an FoI.

Yours sincerely,

P. Smith

Your Right To Know, Essex County Council

Dear Sir/Madam,

Thank you for your recent request for information which has been received by Essex County Council.

Your request is covered by the Freedom of Information Act, under which we must respond within 20 working days.

We will determine and let you know whether we hold the information you have requested and consider whether we are able to release the information or if it is exempt from disclosure.

ECC does not usually charge for providing information to its requestors as the provision of electronic copies is negligible, however under certain circumstances we may have to do so if providing the information costs more than £450. We will let you know before we do any work that would incur a charge.

Please note that the response and data released to you as part of this request will be published on the Essex County Council website. The website address is http://www.essex.gov.uk/Your-Council/You.... All requests will be anonymised and no personal information including contact details will be disclosed as part of this process.

Please contact me if you would like further advice or assistance about your request, or your right to access information held by Essex County Council.

Yours sincerely,

Your Right To Know
Information Services
Essex County Council
T: 033301 38989
E: [email address]
W: www.essex.gov.uk

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Your Right To Know, Essex County Council

1 Attachment

Dear Sir/Madam,

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your request on the accompanying document(s).

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if you are not satisfied with your response, please contact me so I can
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Please note that the response and data released to you as part of this
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address is
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All requests will be anonymised and no personal information including
contact details will be disclosed as part of this process.

 

Yours sincerely,

Your Right To Know

Information Services

Essex County Council

T: 033301 38989

E: [email address]

W: www.essex.gov.uk

 

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Dear Your Right To Know,

I am not seeking opinion. I do not want opinion.

I am seeking information / facts / evidence, around the matter, which MUST exist.

You appear to be avoiding answering my FoI.

Yours sincerely,

P. Smith