Meeting of the Parliament 01 April 2025
I am sorry, but I really would like to progress. I have a number of issues that I want to get round to, including some of the issues that Mr Marra raised.
We have established the national autism implementation team—or NAIT—which is supporting NHS boards to develop, enhance and redesign existing local adult neurodevelopmental services. In addition to NAIT, we have commissioned NHS Education for Scotland to provide professional learning to healthcare staff, including those involved in diagnosis of ADHD and neurodevelopmental conditions at informed, enhanced, specialist and expert levels.
On community support for autistic adults, we directly invest £1 million a year through our autistic adult support fund to deliver such support. Again, I would just highlight that support can be accessed without a formal diagnosis. The Scottish Government also funds Scottish Autism to provide an autism advice line, which is staffed by advisers who are trained and experienced in working with autistic people and their families.
Mr Burnett again invited me to attend the cross-party group on autism. As I outlined in my response to his initial invitation, I will shortly be responding to the Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee’s questions as a follow-up to my evidence session, and I have offered to copy the CPG into that response, which I believe will answer many of its questions. Should the committee have further questions, I am more than happy to hear from it again, as I outlined in my response.
It is also important for clarity and for the record that I explain again to Mr Burnett that a number of criteria need to be met before people can be treated under the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003. No one in Scotland can be detained simply because they are autistic or have a learning disability. The coming home programme is focused primarily on people who have concluded their period of treatment in hospital and are waiting for discharge, and that does not include people who have been admitted to a state hospital.
Mr Marra mentioned CAMHS waiting lists. CAMHS is a specialist service that provides support for mental health conditions, and it has its own referral criteria, which have been in place for some time. The referral for neurodevelopmental assessments does not go through the CAMHS waiting list. That is why we have been able, through a whole-system approach, to put time, effort and investment into improving the CAMHS waiting list. Some of that methodology will be used to look at the approach to neurodevelopmental assessments, as the same level of intensive effort and a whole-system approach will clearly be required to improve the system. The member is conflating and confusing two different referral pathways.
I also want to point out some of the vital work that is being done outside the proposed LDAN bill, which aims to address the inequalities that the groups experience. The Scottish Government wants people with learning disabilities to live longer and healthier lives, and offering annual health checks is a big step towards fulfilling that ambition. We are fully funding that policy with annual investment of £2 million.