It's too late for our son, but families will reap benefits of autistic centre

The move comes after Ken Elliott and his wife Chris complained to the Ombudsman that Cannock Chase Clinical Commissioning Group and Staffordshire County Council had failed to properly assess their son, also Kenneth, for his condition.

The couple told how they had to drive a 180-mile round trip to Sheffield for treatment because there is nowhere locally that provides the service.

Today Mr Elliott, of Huntington Terrace Road, Cannock, said: "We're over the moon. It may be too late for our son but there will be other parents out there in a similar situation whose adult sons or daughters were not diagnosed when they were young who will reap the benefits."

The couple claimed that the lack of a local diagnostic service for autism was in breach of the Autism Act 2009. The Ombudsman agreed, saying that the case exposed a gap in provision, although no evidence was found of an individual injustice to Mr Elliott.

The CCG and the county council submitted a report to the Ombudsman outlining options for provision and a plan to set up a service in the Cannock Chase area has now been agreed.

In a letter to Mr and Mrs Elliott, the head of Cannock Chase and Stafford CCG, Andy Donald, said: "The Clinical Commissioning Group is working with Staffordshire County Council and other partners to ensure there will be a joined-up health and social care pathway for adults on the autistic spectrum.

"Balanced against other commissioning priorities this development will have an allocated funding stream."

The Elliotts were told their son, now 36, had learning difficulties and dyslexia when he was at Blake Valley School although he was athletic, breaking the Cannock and Staffordshire Athletics Club's 400 metre record when he was 14. Then, at the aged of 23, he suffered a psychotic episode after his food or drink was spiked with cannabis at work and he was wrongly diagnosed as schizophrenic.

He was subsequently found to be suffering from Asperger's Syndrome and his parents continued to raise concerns that his behaviour had been caused by a drug-induced psychosis. They also believed he was suffering from related Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Mr Elliott said: "The Autism Act was established in 2009, and became law in 2010 but in Staffordshire it had not been backed up in reality. A lot of money has been wasted by people having to travel hundreds of miles for a diagnosis."

The CCG said the new diagnostic and assessment service would be operational 'in the coming months'.