Publication, Part of Autism Waiting Time Statistics
Autism Statistics, July 2021 to June 2022
Experimental statistics, Official statistics in development
We have noticed an error in the way the following measures were produced after MHSDS version 5 resulting in an overcount of these figures. This issue has been fixed and the corrected data can be found within the data files on the publication pages below:
|
MEASURE_ID |
MEASURE_NAME |
|
ASD18 |
Number of patients with an open "suspected autism" referral in the month, that has been open for at least 13 weeks, receiving a first appointment in 13 weeks or less |
|
ASD18a |
Number of patients with an open "suspected autism" referral in the month, that has been open for at least 13 weeks, receiving a first appointment after more than 13 weeks |
|
ASD18b |
Number of patients with an open "suspected autism" referral in the month, that has been open for at least 13 weeks, that have not had a care contact appointment recorded |
|
ASD18c |
Number of patients aged 0 to 17 with an open "suspected autism" referral in the month, that has been open for at least 13 weeks, receiving a first appointment in 13 weeks or less |
|
ASD18d |
Number of patients aged 18 and over with an open "suspected autism" referral in the month, that has been open for at least 13 weeks, receiving a first appointment in 13 weeks or less |
|
ASD18e |
Number of patients aged 0 to 17 with an open "suspected autism" referral in the month, that has been open for at least 13 weeks, receiving a first appointment after more than 13 weeks |
|
ASD18f |
Number of patients aged 0 to 17 with an open "suspected autism" referral in the month, that has been open for at least 13 weeks, that have not had a care contact appointment recorded |
|
ASD18g |
Number of patients aged 18 and over with an open "suspected autism" referral in the month, that has been open for at least 13 weeks, receiving a first appointment after more than 13 weeks |
|
ASD18h |
Number of patients aged 18 and over with an open "suspected autism" referral in the month, that has been open for at least 13 weeks, that have not had a care contact appointment recorded |
|
ASD19 |
Proportion of patients with an open "suspected autism" referral in the month, that has been open for at least 13 weeks, receiving a first appointment in 13 weeks or less |
|
ASD19a |
Proportion of patients with an open "suspected autism" referral in the month, that has been open for at least 13 weeks, receiving a first appointment after more than 13 weeks |
|
ASD19b |
Proportion of patients with an open "suspected autism" referral in the month, that has been open for at least 13 weeks, that have not had a care contact appointment recorded |
|
ASD19c |
Proportion of patients aged 0 to 17 with an open "suspected autism" referral in the month, that has been open for at least 13 weeks, receiving a first appointment in 13 weeks or less |
|
ASD19d |
Proportion of patients aged 18 and over with an open "suspected autism" referral in the month, that has been open for at least 13 weeks, receiving a first appointment in 13 weeks or less |
|
ASD19e |
Proportion of patients aged 0 to 17 with an open "suspected autism" referral in the month, that has been open for at least 13 weeks, receiving a first appointment after more than 13 weeks |
|
ASD19f |
Proportion of patients aged 0 to 17 with an open "suspected autism" referral in the month, that has been open for at least 13 weeks, that have not had a care contact appointment recorded |
|
ASD19g |
Proportion of patients aged 18 and over with an open "suspected autism" referral in the month, that has been open for at least 13 weeks, receiving a first appointment after more than 13 weeks |
|
ASD19h |
Proportion of patients aged 18 and over with an open "suspected autism" referral in the month, that has been open for at least 13 weeks, that have not had a care contact appointment recorded |
Autism Statistics, April 2021 to March 2022 - NDRS (digital.nhs.uk)
Autism Statistics, April 2022 to March 2023 - NDRS (digital.nhs.uk)
20 July 2023 13:13 PM
Summary
These statistics present a group of measures on waiting times for autism spectrum disorder diagnostic pathways, based on the time between a referral for suspected autism and the first care contact associated with that referral.
There are also multiple breakdowns based on the progression and outcomes of those referrals.
Each of these measures contributes to an overall picture of waiting times for diagnostic pathways. The approach is outlined in the methodology section of this publication.
Highlights
As of March 2022, this publication is based on a new set of Autism Measures. These new measures have been designed following a review of the statistics with NHS England and NHS Improvement. The previous forward model methodology reported all activity back to the date of the referral and did not present current waiting list information. The new measures have been designed to report the current number patients with an open referral as well as the numbers of new, open and closed referrals at different points in time. Specific data quality measures have also been produced to help providers identify where there might be issues with their data.
The intention is to review and develop these metrics for future publications.
These are experimental statistics and are published to involve users and stakeholders in their development to build in quality and reliability at an early stage.
We are aware that autism diagnosis activity also happens in the Community Services Dataset (CSDS) but currently the figures that are presented as part of this publication only include data from the Mental Health Services Dataset (MHSDS).
Between July 2021 and June 2022, the number of patients with an open referral for suspect autism has increased from just over 88,000 to just over 122,000. The number receiving a first appointment within 13 weeks has also increased in that time from 6,500 to just over 9,000.
New and closed referrals for suspected autism
There were 7,239 new referrals to specialist mental health services for suspected autism and 5,282 referrals were closed in June 2022.
Patients with open Referrals
In June 2022 there were 122,187 patients with an open referral for suspected Autism. This is an increase of 38% compared with July 2021. Of the patients with an open referral, 103,947 had referrals which had been open for at least 13 weeks
Waiting time from referral to first care contact
Between July 2021 and June 2022, the number of patients with a referral for suspected autism receiving their first care contact within 13 weeks has been steadily rising from 6,525 to 9,067. This is an increase of 39%.
Latest 6 months
The latest 6 months of data for the headline measures is shown below.
| Metric | Jan 2022 | Feb 2022 | Mar 2022 | Apr 2022 | May 2022 | Jun 2022 | |
| ASD12 | Number of new "suspected autism" referrals in the month | 8,244 | 9,290 | 9,601 | 7,174 | 9,016 | 7,239 |
| ASD13 | Number of closed "suspected autism" referrals in the month | 4,439 | 4,637 | 5,461 | 5,281 | 5,556 | 5,282 |
| ASD16 | Number of patients with an open "suspected autism" referral in the month | 104,977 | 109,660 | 114,253 | 116,188 | 120,199 | 122,187 |
| ASD16a | Number of patients with an open "suspected autism" referral in the month that has been open for at least 13 weeks | 86,301 | 89,033 | 92,588 | 95,262 | 100,201 | 103,947 |
| ASD18 | Number of patients with an open "suspected autism" referral in the month, that has been open for at least 13 weeks, receiving a first appointment in 13 weeks or less | 7,749 | 7,925 | 8,269 | 8,437 | 8,829 | 9,067 |
| ASD19 | Proportion of patients with an open "suspected autism" referral in the month, that has been open for at least 13 weeks, receiving a first appointment in 13 weeks or less | 8.979038 | 8.901194 | 8.930963 | 8.856627 | 8.811289 | 8.722714 |
| ASD20 | Number of patients which have an open "suspected autism" referral in the month receiving at least one care contact in the month | 5,329 | 5,499 | 6,248 | 5,501 | 6,486 | 6,078 |
| ASD21 | Number of patients with an open "suspected autism" referral receiving an autism diagnosis in the month | 442 | 454 | 542 | 430 | 481 | 382 |
| ASD23 | Number of patients with an open "suspected autism" referral receiving a Mental and Behavioural disorder diagnosis in the month that is not an autism diagnosis | 97 | 101 | 102 | 108 | 128 | 123 |
| ASD24 | Number of patients with an open "suspected autism" referral receiving a non-Mental and Behavioural disorder diagnosis recorded in the month | 77 | 93 | 63 | 40 | 96 | 128 |
Resources
Last edited: 20 July 2023 1:14 pm