Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust are highlighting their new service to improve the care of autistic patients accessing mental health services.
The Autism Mental Health Support Service (AMHSS) will work alongside mental health services and with autistic individuals to help improve mental health, reduce the need for hospital admissions and support timely, well-planned discharges. The team includes occupational therapists, speech and language therapists, psychologists and nurses, all of which have received specialist training in autism.
It is estimated that 1 in 100 people in the UK are autistic. Autistic people have different needs due to variations in how their brains process information, sensory input and social interactions, leading to unique preferences and potential challenges in daily life.
For some individuals the interaction between themselves and clinical staff is at odds with their preferred form of communication, so speech and language therapists can engage and support with interaction preferences on an individual basis.
The team also take a role in advocating for and supporting to implement reasonable adjustments in the care of patients, which can be as simple as turning down lighting during a visit but makes a huge difference to a patient with sensory issues. These adjustments help to remove barriers to care and promote better outcomes for the patients while crucially reducing the need for hospitalisation.
Hannah Pearson, Clinical Lead in AMHSS, said, “Our aim is to improve the way care plans are driven, putting the individual needs of patients at the centre of every interaction. There is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to neurodiversity so our team are able to advise and educate fellow clinicians about how best to meet their patient’s requirements. We are also a multi-disciplined team who can support the patients directly throughout their journey of care. Our primary goal is to enable better access and support for mental health needs, improving outcomes and reducing the likelihood of admission to mental health hospital, and firmly believe that early intervention is the key to managing this”.
Patients who will benefit from this service must have a formal autism diagnosis and be currently supported by a Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust mental health team. It is for young people over the age of 16 and adults over who are registered with a GP in Hull or East Riding.
