A SERVICE which supports children with assessments for autism will now be run by Colchester Hospital’s Trust.

The East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust has said the child assessment and development unit will be integrated into the paediatric service.

The service, which was run by Virgin Care, will officially be transferred over to the hospital Trust on February 1.

It will remain at the Primary Care Centre in Colchester.

Virgin Care agreed to deliver the service on a temporary basis in October 2017. It has since assessed more than 250 children and the waiting time from referral to being seen has reduced from 18 months to five.

Elizabeth Kingsford, north east quadrant manager for Virgin Care, said: “We were very happy to be able to look after this valuable service over the last few months.

“The CADU team has worked ever so hard, going above and beyond, seeing hundreds of families and supporting them through what can be a difficult time.

“We’re very pleased to be able to transfer the service to its long-term home with a record of 100 per cent positive feedback from families and much shorter waits for families.”

The Trust will be working alongside Virgin Care to ensure children remain supported without disruption.

The assessments carried out include specialist health visitors and nursery nurses conducting detailed observations in the home, nursery and pre-school.

The final assessment, led by a paediatrician, considers all of these observations to assess whether a child reaches the criteria for a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Pam Green, director of transformation and strategy for the service, said: “Transferring the service to the Trust gives us the opportunity to streamline the services offered to children and their families, providing care alongside the Trust’s paediatric services.”