Bedfordshire, Luton & Milton Keynes Adult Autism Diagnostic Service

Self-referrals are accepted by this service. Referrals can be submitted by any of the following:

• By adults (or people supporting them) requesting an assessment
• GP or other Primary Care services
• Specialist healthcare services – e.g. Community Mental Health, Local Authority, Child & Adolescent Mental Health (for young people in transition to adult services)

•    Please make sure you complete all of the sections as it will not be accepted if there is missing information.
•    Give two or three detailed examples in each section rather than listing things.
•    If you don’t give childhood examples, tell us why (e.g. if you can’t remember).
•    If you need help with completing the form, please contact us.

We follow NICE guidelines and screen referrals to make sure there is enough information about potential characteristics of autism. We will send you a letter within 3 weeks of us receiving your referral. This will say either your referral has been accepted, or the reason that it has not been accepted. 

If we do not accept your referral, please check the reason on the letter from us and read our tips for completing the referral form. You can be referred back to us or self-refer at any time. 

You will be sent some questionnaires to fill out if your referral is accepted and there is no deadline to return these. These are to help us get some information about your development in early childhood and any reasonable adjustments we can make for your appointments with us.

At the moment we are seeing people who were referred to us 4 years ago but waiting times do vary due to things like staffing vacancies or demand. This does mean we are not able to accurately predict when you will be seen.

We will send out regular keeping in touch letters to update people on our waiting list about our estimated waiting times.

There are some local services who offer a range of support including workshops and peer led support. 

ELFT Recovery College: offers a range of free courses & workshops covering a wide range of topics. This is for people living in Bedfordshire & Luton. See website: https://www.elft.nhs.uk/service/382/Bedfordshire-and-Luton-Recovery-College 

CNWL Recovery College: There is also a Recovery College for people living in the Milton Keynes area. See website: https://www.cnwl.nhs.uk/services/recovery-and-wellbeing-college/recovery-and-wellbeing-college-milton-keynes 

Talk Back: Milton Keynes based autism specialist charity which offers support/workshops to people waiting for a diagnostic assessment in Beds, Luton and Milton Keynes . These are peer led groups which cover topics ranging from burnout to joy. See website or the flyer for 'My Autistic Self' groups towards the bottom of this page. https://talkback-uk.com/ 

Bedfordshire Talking Therapies: offers a range of free evidence-based psychological therapy to help support and treat common mental health problems such as depression and anxiety for people living in Bedfordshire. They offer a number of different approaches and formats all delivered by trained staff. See website: https://www.elft.nhs.uk/bedfordshire-talking-therapies 

Milton Keynes Talking Therapies: Offer a range of free evidence based talking therapies to people in the Milton Keynes area. You can learn more and self-refer using the link below: https://www.mktalkingtherapies.nhs.uk/ 

Total Wellbeing Luton: For people who have a Luton GP, Total Wellbeing offer free talking therapies for people as well as employment support for people accessing therapy: https://www.totalwellbeingluton.org/healthy-mind/talking-therapies

If you move house or register with a new GP, please let us know so we can make update your contact details on our system. You can email or call us to tell us this.

If you move out of our catchment area (Beds, Luton and Milton Keynes) we might need to discharge you. If this happens, we will write a letter for you which you can share with the service in your new area asking if they can take your waiting time with us into account.

If you have temporarily registered with a new GP, for example when attending university, let us know as soon as possible so we are aware of your circumstances and we can keep your referral open.

Right to Choose (RTC) is when you pick the healthcare provider who carries out your autism assessment. Your GP can refer you using this route which may have a shorter waiting time, but the assessments are often online. We are not able to recommend or advise you on providers that carry out RTC assessments, there is information on the NHS and National Autistic Society websites about this process and how to choose a provider.

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/autism/assessments/

https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/diagnosis/before-diagnosis/how-to-request-an-autism-assessment

If you have been seen or plan to be assessed by another provider, please let us know as soon as possible. We will remove you from our waiting list once you have been seen elsewhere. This helps us to make sure appointments can be offered to people who have not yet had an assessment.

Our team is a diagnostic service only, and we are not able to offer support or therapeutic interventions. There is a list of suggested organisations locally and nationally in our post diagnostic information that may be helpful. 

Central East ICB (which now covers BLMK) have a directory of services available at the below website:

https://mydirectoryofservices.co.uk/Account/MyDirectoryOfServicesLogin