Central and West Lancashire pathway update

Adlington Medical Centre

Adlington Medical Centre (Croston Medical Centre)

Adlington Medical Centre (Eaves Lane Surgery)

Adlington Medical Centre (Lostock Hall Village Surgery)

Adlington Medical Centre (Medicare Unit Surgery)

Ashurst Primary Care, Ashurst Health Centre

Aughton Surgery

Avenham Lane Practice

Beacon Primary Care, 11 Railway Road

Beacon Primary Care, Hillside Health Centre

Beacon Primary Care, North Meols Medical Centre

Beacon Primary Care, Sandy Lane Health Centre

Berry Lane Medical Centre

Briarwood Medical Centre

Buckshaw Village Health Centre

Burscough Family Practice, Burscough Health Centre

Central Park Surgery

Chorley Health Centre

Clayton Brook Surgery

Coppull Medical Practice, Acreswood Surgery

Dr A Bisarya, Sandy Lane Health Centre

Dr CM Wilson & Partners, Longsands Medical Centre

Dr CM Wilson & Partners, The Health Centre

Dr Dawoud's Surgery

Dr R Ali Surgery, Guttridge Medical Centre

Dr R Yerra, Guttridge Medical Centre

Excel Primary Care, 20 Dingle Road

Excel Primary Care, Birleywood Health Centre

Excel Primary Care, Sandy Lane Health Centre

Fishergate Hill Surgery

GAB Healthcare, Leyland Surgery

GAB Healthcare, The Surgery Chorley

Granville House Medical Centre

Hall Green Surgery

ISSA Medical Centre - Patel, Fatima Health Centre

ISSA Medical Centre - Patel, St Gregory's Road

Kingsfold Medical Centre

Lane Ends Surgery

Lathom House Surgery, Burscough Health Centre

Library House Surgery

Longton Health Centre

Lostock Hall Medical Centre

Lytham Road Surgery

Manor Primary Care, Hillside Health Centre

Moss Side Medical Centre

North Preston Medical Practice, Broadway

North Preston Medical Practice, Ingol

Ormskirk Medical Practice

Parbold Surgery

Park View Surgery

Parkgate Surgery, 28 St Helens Road

Parkgate Surgery, County Road Surgery

Penwortham St Mary's, Cop Lane

Penwortham St Mary's, UCLan

Regent House Surgery

Ribble Village Surgery

Ribbleton Medical Centre

Riverside Medical Centre

Roslea Surgery

Sandy Lane Surgery

St. Fillans Medical Centre

Stanley Court Surgery, Burscough Health Centre

Station Surgery

Stonebridge Surgery

Tarleton Group Practice, Tarleton Health Centre

The Beeches

The Chorley Surgery

The Elms

The Euxton Medical Centre

The New Hall Lane Practice

The Park Medical Practice, Cottam Lane

The Park Medical Practice, Geoffrey Street

The Ryan Medical Centre

The Village Surgeries Croston and Eccleston, Doctor's Lane

The Village Surgeries Croston and Eccleston, Out Lane

Village Surgery  (New Longton Surgery)

Whittle Surgery

 

 

Important information about autism assessments

Hello everyone,

We recently wrote to you to let you know that from 1st June 2025 Lancashire and South Cumbria Foundation NHS Trust (LSCFT) stopped accepting new referrals for autism assessments across Central and West Lancashire.

We are pleased to share that Blackpool Teaching Hospital has now been commissioned to provide a referral and triage service for new referrals for children and young people aged 5-16 years old (prior to 31st December of year 11) in the Central and West Lancashire area.  

If you're already on the waiting list, your assessment will continue as planned with LSCFT. We are aware some children and young people have been discharged from the pathway unexpectedly, whilst awaiting full assessment. We are actively working with both LSCFT and Mersey West Lancs hospital Trust to ensure this group are placed back on the waiting list and not disadvantaged as a result of this action. 

This service for new referrals will be effective from 1st August 2025. If a referral is accepted, the child or young person will be placed on a waiting list for a diagnostic assessment. 

Referrals will be accepted from a professional who knows the child or young person well and who is able to supply all the information needed to enable effective triage. This will include paediatricians, child and adolescent psychiatrists, SENCOs, educational psychologists, clinical psychologists, therapists, school nurses and CAMHS practitioners.

We continue to encourage families to access the support available via the local offer:

Special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) - local offer - Lancashire County Council

The ICB are currently in the process of commissioning additional support services for children and young people. We will share more details on this with you as things progress.

There remains full commitment from the ICB in a full transformation programme, and we are continuing to work with partners to ensure that a permanent and long-term full assessment pathway is in place by 1st April 2026.

We have developed a webpage specifically for updates regarding the neurodevelopmental pathway; this can be found at

LSC Integrated Care Board :: Central and West Lancashire pathway update

For any queries or concerns related specifically to the triage process or experiences by families, please contact the Blackpool ND team. For any other queries or concerns please contact lscicb.cypsend@nhs.net

We would like to provide updated information regarding the recent communication about securing Blackpool Teaching Hospital (BTH) for screening and triage of school-age autism referrals in Central and West Lancashire.

Children and young people previously referred to Mersey West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals for an autism assessment

We are aware that a number of patients from West Lancashire were discharged from Mersey West Lancashire (MWL) Hospital whilst they were part way through their screening process. The process that MWL carried out was purely a pre-screening process and patients would then be referred to LSCFT to be placed on the waiting list for the autism assessment pathway. Therefore, none of these patients were on a waiting list for autism assessment at the time of discharge. On further communication with MWL we understand that these patients have been advised to contact their GP following discharge from the screening pathway, no matter what point they were at on the pathway. 

On consultation with the LMC we are aware that GPs are holding lists of the discharged patients and are awaiting further clarification of next steps.  BTH have contacted a small number of families that had already completed the screening process and have also agreed to contact any other families that had begun the screening process with MWL.  To do this they would need the last clinic letter and contact telephone number.  If you are happy to provide this information, please send to lscicb.cypsend@nhs.net and bfwh.centrallancs.ndp@nhs.net.

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New referrals for autism assessment

You will notice that the BTH referral form:

• requires a significant amount of detail and
• needs to be completed by a professional that knows the child well. 

We would therefore suggest that any further families seeking referral should be advised to speak to their school SENCO about a referral to BTH, unless the GP has sufficient knowledge of the child to complete the referral form here.

 

The ND Pathway at BTH can be contacted on:

• 01253 952852
• 01253 952503

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Support for families

As ever we would also recommend signposting families to the Lancashire County Council SEND Local Offer for support to meet the child’s needs, and if you do feel there is an urgent need, please complete a referral to the correct service accordingly.

Special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) - local offer - Lancashire County Council

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Further information

For further information and updates please see LSC Integrated Care Board :: Neurodevelopmental pathway where updates regarding the pathway transformation and regarding this pathway will be published, or contact lscicb.cypsend@nhs.net.

Thank you for your continued support.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who does this affect?

The closure of LSCFT’s school age autism pathway affects children in Central and West Lancashire aged 5-16.  Please see We identify children and young people in an area based on the GP practice they are registered with.  A list of GP practices affected by the closure can be found at LSC Integrated Care Board :: Central and West Lancashire pathway update for a .  Please review this list of GP practices to check if you are affected by this change.

Why has the pathway closed?

Although the team at Lancashire and South Cumbria Foundation NHS Trust (LSCFT) has been working really hard, they have a lot of children and young people waiting for assessments. To help reduce the waiting times for those already on the list, the Trust has made the decision to not accept new referrals.

When will the new pathway be available?

We are pleased to share that Blackpool Teaching Hospital has now been commissioned to provide a referral and triage service for new referrals for children and young people aged 5-16 years old (prior to 31st December of Year 11) in the Central and West Lancashire area.  This service for new referrals will be effective from 1st August 2025.  If a referral is accepted, the child or young person will be placed on a waiting list for a diagnostic assessment.

How do I refer into the new pathway?

Referrals will be accepted from a professional who knows the child or young person well and who is able to supply all the information needed to enable effective triage.

This will include paediatricians, child and adolescent psychiatrists, SENCOs, educational psychologists, clinical psychologists, therapists, school nurses and CAMHS practitioners.

Referral details can be found at LSC Integrated Care Board :: Central and West Lancashire pathway update.

What happens if I am put on the new waiting list?

The ICB are continuing to work hard to commission an assessment pathway to replace the one closed by LSCFT.  We hope that this will be available from April 2026.  In the meantime, we would encourage you to access support via the local offer website:

Special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) - local offer - Lancashire County Council

Once the new pathway is commissioned children and young people waiting will be seen in the order they were placed on the waiting list.

What happens if I am already on the LSCFT waiting list?

If you're already on the waiting list, your assessment will continue as planned with LSCFT.

Who can I contact with any queries?

For any queries or concerns related specifically to the triage process or experiences by families, please contact the Blackpool ND team. For any other queries or concerns please contact lscicb.cypsend@nhs.net

Where can I access support?

The support offer for Lancashire can be accessed via the local offer website:

Special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) - local offer - Lancashire County Council

The ICB are currently in the process of commissioning additional support services for children and young people.  We will share more details on this with you as things progress.

What happens next?

The ICB recognises that this is a short-term fix to a wider systemic challenge in our existing pathways for how we assess and diagnose children and young people and support them and their families. There remains full commitment from the ICB in a full transformation programme, and we are continuing to work with partners to ensure that a permanent and long term full diagnostic pathway is in place by 1st April 2026.

I was on the waiting list for screening at Mersey West Lancashire Hospitals Trust but was referred back to my GP before this took place, what should I do now?

Unfortunately, due to the LSCFT closure, some children and young people on the waiting list at Mersey West Lancashire Hospital Trust were referred back to their GP before their initial screening could take place.  If this has affected you, please contact the person who referred you originally and ask for a referral to the triage pathway at Blackpool Teaching Hospital.