MORE than £160,000 is to be spent on expanding services for people suffering from autistic spectrum disorder after concerns about waiting times.

Bolton Clinical Commissioning Group made the decision at its board meeting on Friday when member Barry Silvert, clinical director of integrated commissioning, revealed patients were waiting 28 weeks to be referred to a specialist, with 58 service users on the waiting list.

The board accepted the proposal to spend £167,000 in order to reduce waiting times.

Dr Silvert said: "Autistic spectrum disorder is becoming a much more widely recognised problem and in line with just about everywhere else in Greater Manchester the same sort of increase is being seen.

"It's quite astonishing to think that since 2013 when we first started the commission service there were only 15 referrals.

"And currently we are funded for 60 referrals, last year we had 123 referrals. So you can see it is growing.

"The referrals by and large should be entirely appropriate. There are very, very few that would be inappropriate.

"Currently the situation we are in is that we have a waiting time of 28 weeks and 58 service users on the waiting list, which clearly isn't a satisfactory situation.

"So in line with the current investment, in order to provide a satisfactory service for approximately 120 patients a year, we need to have an investment of £167,000 so that we can actually reduce that waiting list to something sensible and to bring down the number of patients on the waiting list to something again which is more sensible.

The proposal was unanimously approved by the board and chief finance officer Annette Walker confirmed that money was available.

Chief officer Susan Long said: "This is a service we should be providing to local people and it is not acceptable for people to wait longer.

"This is a real success that the CCG first commissioned this and it's up and running and we do need to provide the right level of capacity rather than having people waiting too long."

Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is the name for a range of similar conditions, including Asperger syndrome, that affect a person's social interaction, communication, interests and behaviour.

According to the NHS, it is estimated that about one in every 100 people in the UK has ASD. More boys are diagnosed with the condition than girls.

For more information on local services, go to boltonccg.nhs.uk