Concern over lack of doctors for young in West Sussex

There were warnings at a meeting of the children and young people’s services select committee about problems which had faced some autistic young people as a result of the situation.

Members were told that county council leader Cllr Louise Goldsmith and Nick Jarman, chairman of the West Sussex children’s services improvement board, had written to the county Primary Care Trust expressing their dissatisfaction.

They were pressing for a permanent appointment without any further delay. The post had recently been filled, but only on an interim basis at this stage.

Cllr Peter Evans, cabinet member for children and families, said he had met the interim doctor – who was a paediatrician as well as a psychiatrist – and been convinced that the amount of time she had been given would fill the role, but only on an interim basis.

“We need to drive this forward for a permanent appointment,” he added. “We are pushing to get this, but we are up against the bureaucracy of the NHS and it is a big elephant to push up the stairs.”

Director of children’s services Stuart Gallimore said it was fair to say the recent appointment was not a permanent one, but the thing holding this up was the Byzantine process of Royal College applications that the post had to go through.

Cllr Bob Smytherman said the lack of a permanent doctor had affected some young people with acute autism.

One of them had ended up being ‘pushed from pillar to post’ during the process of transfer.

“We should continue to make very strong representations so we get a permanent post for this very important area of looked after children,” he said.

Select committee chairman Cllr Richard Burrett said the select committee should support the representations being made by the council leader, and this was formally agreed by members.