Published on: 23 February 2024
A team of Autism Assessment specialists in Derbyshire has been praised for going ‘above and beyond’ to improve the adult autism assessment process and reduce waiting times – and it is now serving as an inspiration to similar teams in other parts of the country.
Dr Charmian Round – Clinical Psychologist, Dr Amanda Royle – Clinical Psychologist & Clinical Lead Autism Assessment Service and the Autism Assessment team at Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, were celebrated for “developing new ways of working”, to improve referral times for adults waiting to receive an autism assessment.
In the Trust’s Delivering Excellence Every Day (DEED) awards, which recognises and celebrates Derbyshire Healthcare staff and volunteers who have gone ‘above and beyond’ in their work, and thereby demonstrated one or more of our Trust values, a colleague highlighted the huge efforts of the team who worked “unbelievably hard over the past twelve months under the clinical leadership of Dr Charmian Round and Dr Amanda Royle.”
The nomination continued: “The whole team have been able to develop new ways of working to be more effective and responsive to increased referral rates. They have also been able to reduce assessment and report writing time. This has seen a significant reduction in the waiting list.
“The team are now being asked by similar services in other trusts for information on how they did this, so that they can copy our format and reduce their own waiting lists.
“Change can often be hard, especially if there is a move away from what is ‘comfortable’, but the team have been amazing in embracing new ideas and suggesting ways to support the people that use the service.”
Lee Doyle, Interim Director of Operations at Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, said: “The NHS has been struggling with waiting times for adults requiring an autism assessment for quite a while now. The demand for these assessments has always been high but it has grown significantly since the COVID pandemic. We all recognise the importance of ensuring that autism is identified promptly, to prevent distress and confusion and to allow people to start adjusting to the condition.
“The team have worked exceptionally hard to improve the current situation for patients entering our service.
“A massive thank you to this team for their forward thinking and tenacious approach. This is a huge milestone for the team and to patients accessing our service and should certainly be celebrated.”
Dr Amanda Royle spoke on behalf of her team and said: “As referral numbers have tripled nationally we felt that it was important to be proactive with regards to managing local waiting times within existing resources. The team has worked hard to identify strategies that we could try. We are all very pleased that we have been successful in reducing waiting times without compromising the quality of the service offered. This has also been made possible by local post diagnostic services that have been developed through Joined Up Care Derbyshire.”
If anyone who has experienced good care from a member of staff at Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, they can nominate them through the scheme by filling in a DEED nomination form.
