June 28, 2024, Harrogate Advertiser : MP candidates told autism assessment waiting times have ‘devastating’ impact in Harrogate and Knaresborough
N. England
Candidates hoping to be the next MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough took part in another hustings event this week.
It was organised by local disability charity Time Together and held at its Starbeck headquarters.
The charity supports disabled and autistic people to live life well in the area.
Time Together’s CEO Louise Terzza said the charity wanted to give people with support needs, their relatives and carers a chance to quiz the candidates vying for your vote on July 4.
Each of the seven candidates except John Swales from Reform UK and independent Stephen Metcalfe attended.
A woman asked a question regarding lengthy waiting times in the area for people to receive an autism assessment.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence recommends that a person should wait no longer than 13 weeks to be seen.
However, the reality in Harrogate and Knaresborough is people are waiting for three years.
The woman said these wait times have a “devastating” impact on people who often end up in crisis and even dying whilst they wait for the support they need.
She asked the candidates how they would fix this issue and advocate for those “lost in the system”.
Conservative Andrew Jones said he has met with figures from the National Autistic Society who he said do a “very good job” lobbying and informing people of the situation.
Mr Jones said more money needs to be spent tackling the problem and training specialist staff.
He added: “There are two solutions, budget and workforce.
"The growth has outpaced the capacity of the system and we need a workforce plan to bring more people forward.
"We’ve seen more budgets for mental health services but challenges are acute and I will lobby for more budgets.”
A 2021 study found that between 1998 and 2018 there was a 787 per cent increase in the incidence of autism diagnosis across the UK.
Experts say the increase is due to a greater public awareness of autism and earlier recognition and diagnosis of the condition.
One of the Labour Party’s central pledges in its manifesto is to hire 8,500 more mental health staff and cut waiting times with 40,000 more NHS appointments every week.
Labour’s Conrad Whitcroft said the impact of long waiting times is harming patients.
He said: “It’s never been this high.
"We need to make sure we are dealing with waiting lists in a compassionate way.
"It’s incredibly important we change the NHS for the better so it puts patients first.”
Independent Paul Haslam described the length of time people are waiting for assessments in the area as “frightening”.
He called on parties to work together to help solve the problem and said 13 weeks is a lifetime for a young person.
Mr Haslam said: “If we know it’s three years in this area, we should be making a plan.
"We know it needs to be 13 weeks, what do we require?
"Then we can go out and budget and get more teachers or workers.
"The approach has got to be this is the problem, how do we fix it quickly.”
North Yorkshire Council has plans to open a specialist school for autistic children on the site of the former Woodfield School in 2025.
Shan Oakes from the Green Party pointed to her party’s manifesto which says £5 billion will be invested into improving special needs provision in mainstream schools.
She said: “All schools will have fully accessible buildings and local councils will have the funds to support SEND students at school.
"I’ve been interested in issues around autism for a long time.
"It’s a massive issue and it needs money and training.”
Liberal Democrat Tom Gordon spoke last and said the candidates all broadly agreed that the NHS needs more funding to be able to tackle the problem.
About 6,150 autistic people live in North Yorkshire based on the 2021 census.
Mr Gordon said a culture of short-termism in politics had harmed the health service and patients.
Mr Gordon said: “We need to make sure there’s that support in parliament and when we cut waiting lists, staffing issue is cutting through in the NHS.
"We haven’t been able to train or retain staff and that’s having a massive issue with ability to provide appointments for a range of diagnoses and mental conditions.
"If we don’t have people healthy we don’t have a society that functions.”
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