Thank you to those taking part in the survey conducted by NHS South West London and for sharing your views and experiences of post diagnostic support for Autistic people and people with ADHD in Kingston and Richmond. There were some themes in the responses:
- Many respondents felt that there was little, if any, support after a diagnosis
- A lot of those who felt they had some support did not feel it was enough, with long wait times for services and a confusing system to navigate.
- Generally respondents didn’t know where to go to get more support or information
- Those who were offered support found there were long waiting lists for access to medication and therapy and this was frustrating after a long wait time for diagnosis in the first instance.
- Those who were referred to CAMHS commented that it was fine in terms of getting medication but there was no access to therapy.
- Some of those who had more positive post diagnostic experiences spoke of support from the voluntary service, specifically mentioning ADHD Embrace
While we recognise that none of this is new news, the NHS have provided some steps they are taking to try and improve access to post diagnostic support. We are closely involved in this work and will continue to share updates with you when we can. For those interested in reading more detail, the reports can be found here and here.