Last week I finally managed to get my GP to agree to put my case before the Great & Good of our local PCT - so she can get their permission (I know!) to refer me for an adult Aspergers/ASD diagnosis on the NHS. So anyway, sarcasm aside, I admit that's more progress than many in my situation have enjoyed and, believe me, I'm nothing short of ecstatic. But then (still high on the first "yes" I suppose) I had the nerve to mention my assessment clinic of choice - i.e. CLASS, the renowned Cambridge ASD centre that specialises in mid to late-life cases like mine that've previously gone unrecognised - and that's where my luck ran out. Apparently I don't get a choice when it comes to location. It's the clinic my local PCT has an agreement (financial deal) in place with or nothing. The fact that said clinic is several miles further away from my home than Cambridge makes no odds it seems. Nor does the fact that it's in a busy area of London I'm unfamiliar with and therefore scared to visit, whereas Cambridge presents no such problems as I once lived there and know my way around it very well.
So, should I just be grateful to be getting referred at all - i.e. put up and shut up? Or should I (and any/everyone else in the same position therefore) be granted a say in where I'm sent for this health procedure, just as I would be if it was a referral to do with bunged-up sinuses or or a wonky leg?
Does anyone here have any thoughts, advice, suggestions on this knotty subject? Is it one that's come up before? I'd be very interested in the legal side of things - if anyone happens to know that kinda stuff.
Well anyway, cheers for now, chums.
Love, MR xx
26 Mar 2013, 9:38 pm
