Staff will receive an hour and a half of online training, with an extra hour and a half for ‘tier two’ training.

In our view, that’s an inadequate length of time to spend on what is a complex health condition. This is simply an awareness-raising programme dressed up as training.

When medical staff get it wrong there can be dire consequences. In the most extreme cases people have died: in many cases people with Autism are simply doomed to years of bewildered suffering due to lack of suitable support.

Some legitimate questions are:

• Why is this just starting?
• Isn’t training in Autism already part of medical courses?
• Will this be extended to Police and Fire services?