So Why are NHS Autism Assessments done Online Now?
One of the biggest changes that NHS Autism assessment service experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic, was the change in completing Autism assessments. As all the clinicians that work within CareGen also work within NHS Autism assessment services, we thought we would explain why the NHS are now completing their Autism assessments online. This is also why we at CareGen complete our Autism assessments online, as to keep our assessments as closely aligned to the NHS as possible.
Need support? Why not book a FREE Clinical Appointment with an Autism Specialist at CareGen? Just click here to book a date and time that suits you!
Managing Waiting Times
Since the first lockdown, NHS Autism services were scrambling trying to figure out how to continue offering Autism assessments and to not let waiting times increase further. Many clinicians at CareGen who were also working with the NHS at the time were worried that waiting times for Autism assessments could have reached 6 years or more, which would have been unacceptable. This is why the decision was made within the NHS to trial completing Autism assessments online. Thankfully, with additional training for clinicians, the NHS were able to offer online assessments to families and have been doing so in this manner for the past 3 years.
Since then, a lot of Autism assessment tools have been modified to allow for online usage. In addition, as this has been the standard for several years now, it has allowed clinicians to become quite good at spotting the signs of Autism via online platforms like Zoom and Attend Anywhere. Therefore, families should be reassured that the assessing clinician will be able to accurately assess you/your child for Autism in this manner.
Easier Access for families
Another thing that NHS Autism services found during the pandemic was the increase in people attending their Autism assessments. Believe it or not, despite the waiting times being ridiculously high for Autism Assessments, there are a lot of families that don’t turn up for their assessment. Obviously this causes delay and frustration to the clinician, as this time could have been better spent with a family that wanted to engage in the assessment process. Nevertheless, due to assessments being offered online and in the comfort of their own home, services found that more people were willing to engage in this rather than having to leave their home with their child.
In hindsight, this make a lot of sense as it can be difficult for people with Autism to go to a new place to meet a new person to discuss personal things. Therefore, by offering this assessment in the comfort of their home, we were able to see a lot more engagement for individuals. This is one of the reasons why NHS Autism Services have opted to offer online Autism assessments indefinitely.
More Assessments Offered
The last reason why NHS Autism services are now offering online assessments is due to clinicians being able to offer more assessments. This is due to less travel time which usually takes a large part of clinicians time during the day. You would think that clinicians would have one building where they complete Autism assessments, however that is not always the case. There are usually issues with room bookings within a particular building which often results in having to change rooms and in some cases even change buildings. This obviously takes a lot of time, however with the introduction of online assessments, all these issues disappear.
With less travel time means more assessments can be offered to families, and in turn reduce waiting times. This is also why we at CareGen offer online assessments as to reduce the waiting times for families that want to access Autism Assessment services. In addition, we can offer Assessments nationwide which was previously not an option. This means that we can help more families throughout the UK to get the support they need.
Need support? Why not book a FREE Clinical Appointment with an Autism Specialist at CareGen? Just click here to book a date and time that suits you!