Autism diagnosis rates vary widely across NHS England trusts - study

Children and adults seeking an autism diagnosis in England are almost seven times more likely to receive one in some NHS foundation trusts than others, according to research.

- Amelia Hill

Freedom of information requests by the charity Autistica revealed that positive assessments in children ranged from 100% of those evaluated by one trust to just 18% in another. In adults the figures ranged from 97% to 14%.

The findings came from requests to all 42 NHS integrated care boards (ICBs) in England and 120 providers of NHS autism services in March 2024.

The data shows that 100% of children evaluated in Kingston, south-west London, were given positive assessments by Achieving For Children, a social enterprise company.

In Bedfordshire, which is covered by Cambridgeshire community services NHS trust, just 18% of evaluated children were found to be autistic. But in Cambridgeshire, under the same trust, the figure was 44%.

Dr James Cusack, the chief executive of Autistica, said: "What our robust research - the first of its kind - shows is that each integrated care board is taking a different approach to autism diagnoses.