"NHS/PCT is letting us down"

My husband suffered a serious slipped disc in 1999 which has left him in constant pain. As a result of this a psychologist sugested to me last year that he might have autism as he was behaving in a different pattern, was very moody & depressed. Our GP agreed & requested funding from Bedfordshire PCT to get a diagnosis & help for both of us. The PCT refused the funding request on the basis that there was no cure for autism. As it was having such a large impact on both our lives & we were both feeling unwell & depressed we started an appeals procedure. Five months later the PCT agreed funding for a diagnosis bit NOT for any counseling or help for either of us. We had by then paid privately for a diagnosis becasue of the stae we were in & High Functioning Autism was diagnosed in March 2007. 5 months later & we are still fighting the PCT to get help for my husband on the NHS. The local psychiatric service has refused to help us as they have no training for autism. The PCT have lost papers; have requested the same papers 4 times now; say that they cannot justify spending money on such things despite the money being used, even wasted, for GP appointments & prescriptions & despite the specialist who made the diagnosis stating what help was needed, why & where it was available. The PCT have overruled our GP's medical decision twice & have ignored a specialist's medical decison.

What a waste of time & money for the NHS paying for paper pushing bureaucrats, of which there are 3 layers, to overrule the doctor who knows the patient the best!