Two and a half year wait for autism assessments in Fife
Young people in Fife are being forced to wait an average of two and a half years for an autism assessment, Scottish Greens Mid Scotland and Fife MSP Mark Ruskell has revealed.
The average waiting time was confirmed in a letter from Fife Health and Social Care Partnership to Mr Ruskell. The local health and social care partnership also confirmed that 1085 young people in Fife were waiting for an assessment at the beginning of December.
Commenting, Mark Ruskell MSP said:
“Families in Fife who are waiting for autism assessments for their children are at crisis point. The pandemic brought a halt to face to face assessments, leading to a backlog of more than 1,000 young people waiting for appointments.
“These ongoing delays are having a major impact on those young people waiting and their families. I welcome the recruitment plans put in place by NHS Fife; if this goes to plan, not only will young people be seen quicker, but our hardworking NHS staff will finally have the capacity to meet the needs of families in Fife.
“However, it is simply not acceptable that the situation has been allowed to reach this point. We need to see progress, fast, to ensure all those who are waiting receive all the support they need.”