Item 5: Member Engagement

Letter from Cllr Mitchie Alexander

Dear Chair and Committee of HOSC.

I have been having various conversations recently with advocate groups for people with learning disabilities and autism and also direct conversations with people with learning disabilities and/or autism. 

They tell me that they find the waiting area in A&E very, very difficult due to their autism and in fact one man told me that he avoided going to A&E because he couldn’t face the busy waiting room and in the end his medical condition got suddenly worse, due to the fact that his issue couldn’t be dealt with when it first arose. 

Can the chair and the committee members ask UHSx to please include within the designs of the new A&E,  at least one ‘quiet, autism friendly’ room.  Where someone with certain needs, such as a learning disability or autism can wait to be assessed. 

The impact of being very unwell and/or in a lot of pain is extremely heightened for a person with learning disabilities and/or autism and this could be better managed by having a quiet space available to them, whilst they wait for an assessment.

The redesign of the A&E department is the perfect opportunity to consider persons in our city with complex needs and how the area can include provision in the future for those with more complex needs, so that their wait for assessment can be more manageable for them and their carers and indeed for the other people waiting in the communal area for medical assessments.

Best Regards

Cllr Mitchie Alexander

(Cabinet Member for Communities, Equalities, Public Health and Adult Social Care)