Dr Jonathan Summerill and Stephanie Foster smiling into the camera. Summerill is on the left and has brown, short hair. He is wearing a white and blue striped shirt and has a blue NHS lanyard around his neck. There is a small black microphone clipped to it. Foster has long blonde hair and is wearing a black, red and blue patterned top with the same blue lanyard around her neck. They are standing in a room with a beige wall. There is a large whiteboard towards the left.
Over-65s receiving treatment from mental health teams will be able to access faster autism assessments following a successful pilot.
Easington NHS mental health service had been one of the first nationally to pilot the scheme and in the first year it reduced average waiting times for older people accessing secondary mental health care from 118 weeks to 20.
Following the pilot diagnosing autism within the service, the scheme will now be rolled out across County Durham and Teesside.
Clinical psychologist for Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust (TEWV), Dr Jonathan Summerill, said older people who are autistic often went undiagnosed, but a diagnosis could change the care they receive.
He said: "Many older people currently do not have the same access and support for autism and therefore we aim to increase recognition around this.
"We've seen people being discharged from services, medication being reviewed, and past diagnosis being looked at."
TEWV said research suggested about 90% of middle-aged and older autistic adults in England were undiagnosed.
Normally, people seeking an autism assessment need to be referred through their GP.
A specialist occupational therapist for the trust, Stephanie Foster, said: "The outcome for the patients have been fabulous.
"Especially for people who have been treatment-resistant and who've been in services a long time.
"We've been able to help them understand who they are, way they've felt that way for so long and help them move forward."
A girl with long brown hair sits on a chair looking at the camera. She is wearing a red T-shirt. A woman with glasses sits next to her. She is wearing a patterned floral top and a cardigan. She wears glasses and has shoulder length hair.
