AQW 1353/22-27 Written question to the Minister of Health
To ask the Minister of Health how long, on average, it takes a child to receive their autism diagnosis assessment, broken down by Health and Social Care Trust.
Asked by Peter McReynolds MLA on 13 June 2022
- Answered
- Written
- Tabled
- 13 June 2022
- Answer due by
- 28 June 2022
- Answered
- 17 June 20224 days after tabling
- Department
- Department of Health
- Priority question
- No
Answer
The average length of time it takes a child to receive an autism diagnosis assessment is not collected by my Department; however, the number of children waiting for an autism assessment following a referral by wait time for each Health and Social Care (HSC) Trust is presented in Table 1.
Table 1: Number of children waiting for an autism assessment following referral by Health and Social Care (HSC) Trust and time waiting at 31 March 2022
| HSC Trust | Number of children waiting for an autism assessment by wait time | Total | ||||
| 0-13 weeks | >13-26 weeks | >26-39 weeks | >39-52 weeks | >52 weeks | ||
| Belfast | 306 | 276 | 226 | 235 | 1,237 | 2,280 |
| Northern | 532 | 533 | 362 | 487 | 844 | 2,758 |
| South Eastern | 106a | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | 106 |
| Southern | 221 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 221 |
| Western | 220 | 167 | 173 | 186 | 549 | 1,295 |
| Northern Ireland | 1,385a | 976b | 761 | 908 | 2,630 | 6,660 |
Source: Monthly Children’s Autism Waiting Times Trust Returns, SPPG.
a To avoid personal disclosure because of low numbers, this figure includes a small number of children waiting up to 26 weeks.
b To avoid personal disclosure because of low numbers, this figure excludes a small number of children waiting up to 26 weeks.