Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that all GPs have received training on autism in order to ensure that referrals for diagnosis are made appropriately.

The report of the Mental Health Task Force is due to be published shortly. NHS England has commenced a programme to visit clinical commissioning groups to identify and share good practice in accessing timely autism diagnosis.

In 2015, new statutory guidance for local authorities and National Health Service organisations to support the continued implementation of the 2010 Autism Strategy, as refreshed by its 2014 Think Autism update, set out expectations for autism training for general practitioners (GPs). The Department has also provided financial support to the Royal College of General Practitioners clinical priorities programme on autism which is undertaking practical work on autism awareness and training for GPs.GPs should be aware of what the local arrangements are for making referrals for autism diagnosis.