AQW 1353/22-27


Mr Peter McReynolds
Alliance Party
East Belfast


Tabled Date: 13/06/2022
Answered On Date: 17/06/2022
Priority Written: No


Question:
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.


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.