Experiences from autistic people and people with learning disabilities: access to services

This is a report by Healthwatch Brent. The project looks at the experiences of autistic people and those with learning disabilities when accessing healthcare services.

This project is part of work with local adult social care in the area. It is the second part of the project and engagement officers met with people who have learning disabilities and people with autism to find out about their experiences of accessing care. In total, 30 people were spoken to about their experiences, including people with lived experience, professionals and carers. The research went beyond just adult social care, extending to a wide range of services.

This work was carried out through a series of three engagement visits with local community organisations. We visited the Brent Play Association day centre, Brent Mencap’s ‘Disability, Rights and Politics’ Group and the Autism Care Navigation focus group. 

In total engagement heard from:

• 11 people who have been diagnosed with autism or who are currently on the waiting list for an autism assessment
• 9 people who have learning disabilities
• 4 professionals
• 3 parents/guardians who were supporting people with learning disabilities
• 2 social workers with experience of working with autistic people and people with learning disabilities
• 1 care assessor 

There are recommendations in this report

• Customer care team members should receive enhanced training to ensure that they’re able to meet the specific needs of different client groups. In particular, staff should receive training about how to support autistic people.
• A range of different communication methods should be available to allow people to contact Brent Council in the way that suits them. This might include better support for email communication or a web chat function.
• Consideration needs to be given to how the council can better support people who are not eligible for support under the care act. This should include better information and signposting. Council staff should have an up-to-date directory of services that they can use to offer clear signposting to services. 

There are no follow up actions in this report. Brent adult social care has responded.