Autism Liaison Service

If you are autistic or identify as neurodivergent, our autism liaison practitioners can support you with accessing the healthcare you need.

This service covers Bridlington, Scarborough, York, and Selby.

How the team can help

Our autism liaison practitioners will find out any reasonable adjustments for your stay, and can make plans and get information from the hospital staff. Please note - reasonable adjustments can be requested but are not always guaranteed.

The team gives advice and training to hospital staff so that they can give better care to our patients in the future. They also attend health group meetings to get views from people who are autistic about providing better care.

Hospital passports

Hospital passports are a good way of sharing information with hospital staff about your support needs and how you communicate. 

Our autism liaison practitioners are happy to help you make a passport, which they can then share with staff in the hospital before you come in for an appointment. 

They can also create an alert which tells hospital staff you are autistic or neurodiverse and have a passport.

What to expect when visiting the Emergency Department

This information video was created in partnership with our Trust and York St John University. The video is a short introduction to what to expect when visiting the emergency department, particularly for people who may feel overwhelmed or anxious when visiting: Watch the "What to expect when visiting the emergency department" video on YouTube

The video features actors portraying staff, patients, and patients’ carers whilst waiting in the emergency department waiting room. The video shows some of what you can expect while waiting, including the initial interactions with staff you may have, what sounds you may hear, and different things you can do to feel better and comfort yourself while waiting.

The video was created with a focus on the needs of those with neurodivergent traits, communication needs, or heightened sensory sensitivity, including those with Alzheimer’s, Dementia, or learning disabilities.

How to access the service

If you're coming to one of our hospitals, please contact Alex Manson or David Burton, our Autism Liaison Practitioners.

You can get in touch directly or ask a care partner or family member to do this. Your community nurse or a person that supports you can also contact us if you are unable to. This can be via email, phone, or text, using the following details:

Call or text: Alex - 07823 547880, David - 07823 548343

Email: yhs-tr.AutismLiaisonService@nhs.net

Opening hours 

The service is available from Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm. 

• Alex works Monday to Friday and is based at York Hospital
• David works Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, and is based at Scarborough Hospital

Alex Manson Autism Liaison Practitioner York	David Burton Autism Liaison Practitioner Scarborough

Patient experience survey

Our aim is to improve access to healthcare for neurodivergent people by working together with the people who matter the most: YOU. Your feedback is so important to shaping and improving our service. If you have used Trust services and used the Autism Liaison Service, not used it but felt you would have benefited from it, or not used it and wouldn't need to use it but have feedback on the accessibility of the Trust, please use our survey to tell us about your experiences: Autism Liaison Service patient experience survey