We've been working with the Cheshire West and Chester branch to improve services for people with autism in the area for years now. A survey the group carried out in 1993 led to the development of a new local residential service, Dover Drive, so we knew that working together it was possible to bring change to the area.
Last summer the branch carried out another survey to find out more about the experiences of adults with autism and their families in Cheshire West and Chester. The survey produced some quite difficult results and as a culmination of our campaigning, members of the branch met with Alistair Jeffs, the Head of Strategic Commissioning, and Jill Broomhall, Head of Prevention and Wellbeing to discuss their experiences on Wednesday 15th May.
Branch members raised some important issues such as poor transition planning in the area, not enough social workers, few services for people with Asperger syndrome or high-functioning autism, and a lack of suitable services for those with personal budgets. As a result, the council officers promised to feed back comments from that evening to their teams, and said that they were looking into a number of structural changes to the way the council is organised, including appointing a lead commissioner for autism, increasing the number of people in social work teams, and developing a possible family liaison officer role to help those going through transition and to act as a point of information for people who aren't eligible for social care.
We were really pleased to hear the council listening and reacting to the experiences of people with autism and their families. So, we've agreed to wait for six months before holding a similar consultation event again, when we hope branch members and their loved ones will have experienced a change in the services they receive.
Find out here how many people are currenly pushing for action in Cheshire West and Chester.
If you are interested in local campaigning and would like support and advice, contact campaign@nas.org.uk to find out how we can help.
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