Autistic people who are being treated for a complex mental health condition are supported to “express their views, feelings and wants” at a Northampton hospital.

Complex mental health charity St Andrew’s Healthcare has been awarded the Autism Specialist Award, which is a prestigious accreditation presented by the National Autistic Society.

The Billing Road hospital’s Learning Disability and Autism (LDA) Services has been formally recognised for the way it looks after autistic people who require specialist treatment as well as a complex mental illness.

Dean Robinson, Service Director for the LDA division, said: “We’ve worked hard to recognise and understand the layered complexity that autistic people who have complex mental illness have. Everything we do here is about helping each person within our care become more independent.

“All our ward environments have a smaller number of beds and many of them have integrated adaptive lighting, a number of sensory areas and visual timetables of activities. Additionally, each patient has an individual timetable in written, list or picture format, depending on each patient’s preference.

“We know that communication can be challenging for some autistic people so we provide each person with practical strategies and approaches which are shared among all our multidisciplinary staff. Where requested, staff facilitate social activities for the people within our care. They have access to social clubs, breakfast clubs and coffee clubs.”

The National Autistic Society’s Autism Accreditation Programme is the UK’s only autism-specific quality assurance programme of support and development for all those providing services to autistic people. Achieving accreditation proves that an organisation is committed to understanding autism and setting the standard for autism practice. It is a way for organisations to show they offer excellent support to autistic children and adults.

Christine Flintoft-Smith, Head of Autism Accreditation and Projects at the National Autistic Society said: “We are delighted that St Andrew’s Healthcare has achieved our Autism Specialist Award and they should be exceptionally proud of their achievement.

“Our Autism Accreditation programme sets extremely high standards, which St Andrew’s Healthcare has worked incredibly hard to meet. It’s vital that healthcare providers have a good understanding of autism to make sure that all autistic people get the right healthcare and support.”

St Andrew’s Healthcare’s CEO Dr Vivienne McVey said: “Our staff understand the importance of working with autistic people in our care so they are actively engaged in their care plans. A lot of training, skill and dedication has been carried out to ensure we deliver good quality of care.

“Support for the autistic people within our care is individualised and tailored for their specific needs. We have even started to create services to suit some of our patients with high support needs. Last year we launched our Supported Transition Service, which provides bespoke, onsite care for patients within a highly personalised environment. This is our vision for the future as it’s allowing each person to live independently, alongside nursing support.

“We’re thrilled that our hard work has been recognised by the National Autistic Society and plan to continue our quest for transforming the lives of people within our care.”