Organisation

Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust

What was the aim?

The trust was searching for a way to give more information and support to autistic people and families in its region – Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.

What was the solution?

Led by the trust, two services were developed:

• Autism Space, a website
• ChatAutism, a text messaging service

Autism Space is an online library of information, advice and resources, created specifically for use by autistic people living in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland. The website was co-created and co-designed by people with lived experience of autism; people with lived experience of parenting autistic and neurodivergent children; and healthcare professionals with experience of working with autistic people of all ages.

This website content works hand-in-hand with the ChatAutism text messaging service. This service puts people in touch with a health professional who can direct them to an appropriate service, give them professional advice, or guide them to further information.

People using the service can choose to identify themselves or remain anonymous if they prefer and a formal diagnosis of autism is not needed to access the service.

What were the challenges?

For the text messaging service, to allow records of queries to be maintained, texts are received onto, and responded from, a computer rather than a phone.

Maintaining confidentiality is crucial, although information may be shared if a health professional is worried about a person’s safety; the professional will consider if information is shared which may be concerning or puts the person texting or someone else at risk or danger.

What were the results?

The ChatAutism service currently receives around 60 texts per month. The team holds data about the calls which they use to further develop the service, including:

• the age of the person the query relates to; the service is open to any age
• whether the person texting is a parent/carer/relative or an autistic person
• the subject of the enquiry – such as communication, employment or health issues

People who have used the service have said:

“Thank you so much for your advice. I found the ChatAutism service to be helpful, supportive, and informative. The team is attentive and provides clear, thoughtful responses to queries, making the experiencer both reassuring and effective. I appreciate the effort put into making this a valuable resource.”

“I found the chat helpful as I know what to do next, with some clear steps to take and things to consider.”

“Thanks for the comprehensive message. It’s so helpful and very empathic. It helps to know that I am not alone in this.”

What were the learning points?

• Clear pathways in place for responding to risk and safeguarding
• Processes in place within teams for the management of the rota to cover the text messaging service
• Governance process for approval of website content and ongoing review

Next steps and sustainability?

Sarah Tebbett, Digital Clinical Lead at Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust, said: “The text service gets a lot of positive feedback from users, and we think this is down to the clinical support that is behind the service, clinicians are either hands on responding to messages or supporting other staff to respond.

“As a team we are now considering how the website could be expanded to become a resource for people with other neurodiversities.”

Want to know more?

To find out more about the free and confidential text service watch this video (via vimeo); or to see the range of resources available, visit Autism Space.

For more information, please contact Sarah Tebbett: sarah.tebbett@nhs.net