All parts of Miss K’s complaint
13. 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.
14. The events of Miss K’s complaint happened on various dates between November 2018 and October 2019. She sent us her written complaint in August 2024, approximately five years after the events she has complained about.
15. Miss K says she became aware she had a reason to complain in June 2023 when a private clinical psychologist diagnosed B with ASD. She says the diagnosis confirmed what she believed to be the case for many years, and she took steps to gather evidence to pursue a complaint.
16. We can see that by October 2019, Miss K had raised concerns with the Trust for several months about B’s developmental delay and autism traits, and she was frustrated that the Trust did not listen to her concerns or refer B for an autism assessment. She was aware at that time that she was unhappy with the service the Trust provided as she withdrew B from CAMHS. Miss K could have complained to the Trust about the issues she was experiencing at that time.
17. We assess Miss K’s point of knowledge to be October 2019 at the latest, when she withdrew B from CAMHS. This means Miss K had until October 2020 to bring her complaint to us.
18. Miss K did not complain to the Trust until 19 August 2023, which is approximately four years after the period of care complained about. This meant the complaint was out of time (to come to us) before Miss K had begun the complaints process.
19. The Trust responded on 2 August 2024. Miss K sent us her written complaint quickly, approximately five days later.
20. 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.
21. 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.
22. We contacted Miss K to explore the reasons for the delay in complaining to the Trust. Miss K explained that she spent a long time fighting for the Trust to refer B for an autism assessment which it rejected. She says she had to pay for a private assessment which was expensive, and she felt she did not have enough evidence to complain until B was diagnosed with ASD.
23. Miss K also told us she was dealing with a similar issue with the Trust for B’s older sibling, and they had a private autism assessment seven months before B’s assessment.
24. 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.
25. 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.
26. We understand what happened has been very distressing for B and their parents, and we recognise how much this complaint means to them. Having taken all the circumstances into account, we do not think Miss K’s reasons justify the extent of the delay.
27. We can see that by the end of October 2019, Miss K felt the Trust was not listening to her concerns and it was not providing the referral she was hoping for.
28. We cannot see that any further action was taken until June 2023, when the private assessment took place. That is a gap of over three-and-a-half years. It took a further two months for Miss K to complain to the Trust.
29. We would expect a complainant to progress their complaint promptly when they were aware they had a reason to complain.
30. 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 substantiate their complaint or express their dissatisfaction with an NHS service provider.
31. 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 B much sooner than she did.
32. We do not dimmish the impact of B’s ASD being undiagnosed for a long time, and we understand this may have had some impact on their parents’ mental health and their ability to complain to the Trust. 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.
33. 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.
34. For these reasons we will not be considering this complaint further. It is important we consider and act within the law and we regret any further upset this decision may cause. We thank Miss K for bringing their complaint to us and we hope this statement clearly explains the reasons why we will not be considering the complaint further.