All parts of Miss K’s complaint
17. The law says a person needs to make their complaint to us within a year of becoming aware of the problem. We cannot investigate complaints brought to us after one year, unless we consider there is a good reason to do so. We have explored this with Miss K to understand the reasons why she could not bring the complaint to us sooner.
18. The events of Miss K’s complaint happened on various dates between April 2015 and May 2017, and May 2022. She sent us her written complaint in August 2024.
19. Miss K says she became aware she had a reason to complain in November 2022 when a private clinical psychologist diagnosed A with ASD. She says the diagnosis confirmed what she believed to be the case for many years. Whilst the ASD diagnosis provided Miss K with confirmation of her child’s neurodiversity, the information in support of the complaint shows Miss K was worried about ASD symptoms since at least 2016.
20. We assess Miss K’s point of knowledge to be May 2022 at the latest. This is when the Trust’s multi-disciplinary referral triage team reviewed the referral and A’s medical records, and concluded it would not accept the referral. Miss K could have complained to the Trust about its decision at that time.
21. This means Miss K had until May 2023 to bring her complaint to us.
22. Miss K did not complain to the Trust until 19 August 2023. This meant the complaint was out of time (to come to us) before Miss K had begun the complaints process.
23. The Trust responded on 2 August 2024. Miss K sent us her written complaint quickly, approximately five days later, but 15 months outside of our time limit.
24. In line with section 9(4) of the Health Service Commissioners Act 1993, we have considered whether it is reasonable for us to set aside our time limit.
25. Miss K explained on the complaint form that the delay was because of the length of time it took the Trust to investigate and respond to her complaint. We can see that the Trust’s complaint process took a long time, and it lasted one year. We accept Miss K was unable to bring her complaint to us until the NHS complaints process came to an end.
26. We contacted Miss K to explore the reasons for the delay in complaining to the Trust. Miss K explained that some of the delay was because the Trust made her feel the difficulties A was experiencing was her fault. We are very sorry that this happened.
27. Miss K told us that when the Trust refused to acknowledge A’s younger sibling had developmental delays she started to think she had been right all along, after suffering and struggling with the guilt for three to four years. We recognise that this must have been an incredibly difficult time for Miss K, and we understand her reasons for not complaining to the Trust when A was under the care of the community paediatrics team.
28. Miss K told us that she spent a long time fighting for an autism referral for both children, which the Trust rejected. She says she had to pay for private assessments, and she felt she did not have enough evidence to complain until A was diagnosed with ASD.
29. Miss K also told us at the same time, she was dealing with a similar issue with the Trust for A’s younger sibling, and they had a private autism assessment seven months after A’s assessment. Miss K decided to wait for the outcome of A’s sibling’s assessment before making a complaint.
30. Miss K says after both children were diagnosed with ASD, she contacted the Trust to obtain their medical records. The medical records were extensive, and it took a long time to read through them and prepare the complaint letter to the Trust.
31. Miss K told us she wanted the Trust to consider both complaints at the same time, as she felt it added weight to her overall complaint that they were judged as a family on her mental health instead of the Trust looking at her children and assessing them for ASD. We recognise that this must be incredibly difficult for Miss K and her family.
32. We understand what happened has been very distressing for A and their parents. Having taken all the circumstances into account, we do not think Miss K’s reasons justify the extent of the delay.
33. We can see that by the end of May 2022, Miss K was aware that the Trust did not share her concerns about A, and it had refused the referral she was hoping for.
34. We cannot see that any further action was taken until November 2022, when the private assessment took place. It took a further nine months for Miss K to complain to the Trust.
35. We would expect a complainant to progress their complaint promptly when they were aware they had a reason to complain.
36. Whilst we understand Miss K’s reasons for requesting her children’s medical records, we do not consider this was necessary to enable her to make a complaint. A complainant does not need to gather evidence to express their dissatisfaction with an NHS service provider, or to substantiate a complaint before it is made.
37. Overall, we have seen Miss K was able to pursue the private diagnoses for her children and communicate with the Trust to obtain medical records. We can see no reason why she was unable to complain to the Trust about its refusal to assess A much sooner than she did.
38. We do not dimmish the impact of A’s ASD being undiagnosed and unsupported for a long time, and the financial impact this had on A’s parents. But we cannot link those reasons to the full period of the delay. It appears Miss K took no action for a significant period, and we have not seen strong reasons to show she was unable to progress the complaint.
39. We recognise how distressing the events within Miss K’s complaint have been and continue to be for her and her family. It remains that we see various opportunities where we consider they could have pursued their complaint much sooner.
40. For these reasons we will not be considering this complaint further. It is important we consider and act within the law and we are very sorry for any upset our decision may cause.
41. We thank Miss K for bringing her complaint to us and we hope this statement clearly explains the reasons why we will not be considering the complaint further.