NHS England has announced that improving health and care for people with autism, and people with learning disabilities, will be a top priority in their 10 year plan.

 

The Department of Health & Social Care released details of a revised governance model surrounding their ‘Think Autism Strategy.’ The strategy consists of two overarching objectives; ‘reducing the gap in life expectancy for autistic people,’ and ‘autistic people are able to play a full role in society.’

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NHS England are developing a long-term plan for improving health and care services for people with autism. They're set to talk with organisations, local authorities and professionals to determine key issues within the priority areas of focus over upcoming months. Alongside autism and learning difficulties, mental health, cancer and cardiovascular disease will be prioritised.

 

Our CEO, John Phillipson, said: “We’re delighted to see that autism will be a fundamental aspect of the NHS’ future. People with autism have faced a lifetime of inadequate health and care services and we look forward to seeing this progress in the near future.

I would like to invite people with autism to come forward to the North East Autism Society and discuss what changes they would personally like the NHS to make, and how they can improve their strategy. I think it’s crucial that people with autism voice their opinions and that they are heard, we welcome all comments and will use the information to suggest recommendations.

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Please email [email protected] with any comments / feedback you have in regards to the NHS plan. Please note that due to the anticipated volume of response, we may not have capacity to directly respond to each email. However, we will use all of the information we receive in our proposal.