A Croydon MP has criticised the “postcode lottery” of autism diagnosis faced by people in her borough.
Croydon Central MP Sarah Jones called on the government commit to recording waiting times for autism diagnosis, as there are currently no benchmarks or official recordings of waiting times.
A survey from Public Health England in 2016 found that, nationally, the median waiting time between an autism referral and appointment stood at 16 weeks.
However, the wait is far higher in some areas with one local authority seeing a median wait time of 125 weeks.
Ms Jones said: "It's time the government ended the postcode lottery over autism diagnosis and brought in a national standard and reporting of diagnosis waiting times.
"But that's just the start. We need to properly support autistic children and adults throughout their lives which means better support for schools and welfare, where my constituents have highlighted serious shortcomings."
Ms Jones told of the hardships faced by some families in Croydon, saying that when door knocking “it is unusual not to meet somebody who has a child with autism—diagnosed or undiagnosed—and who is struggling to get the support they need.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here