Dr. Amanda Burke:

I will take that. It is important to note that anybody who has mental health needs can be seen by CAMHS. I think there is a rhetoric out there that people with autism are not seen by CAMHS. Should somebody have a moderate to severe mental illness, they should, and will be, seen by CAMHS.

We have been working on an autism assessment protocol. Most of the feedback we get from our families is related to people with ASD and I think that is what the Deputy might be alluding to. This protocol is being piloted in two areas. Essentially, it means the assessment will take place either in primary care or in the community disability network teams. Should CAMHS assessment and intervention be required, CAMHS will in-reach into these services. The benefit for young people is they are not moved between two services; they can attend two services at the same time.

Ideally, the disability and CAMHS teams would work together. The two pilot sites have completed phase 1, and one of the areas has actually continued with the initiative because, pragmatically, it has found that it has worked so well. We are moving on to extend it to four areas.