To sue camhs by myself?

[Legalhelpneed]

Shamelessly posting here to get lots of replies. DD is almost 21 and was diagnosed with ASD just before her 18th bday. This was despite her being under CAMHS for 5+ years, with me constantly suggesting she might be autisitic. They did not believe me because she masked at appointments and at school (when she went... Her attendance was about 30% for years 10, 11 and 12 and she eventually dropped out of school half way through 6th form). As a result of her late diagnosis her late childhood and teenage years were ruined for her; she self-harmed and tried to kill herself several times, she missed out on education, my marriage broke down, I suffered from depression and anxiety myself. DD was bullied mercilessly by her peers and was offered no support from the school because she had no diagnosis and they didn't believe me. DD would've probably been entitled to DLA and she now gets middle rate PIP which has improved her quality of life considerably. She missed out on riding for the disabled and the local autism charity's youth groups and summer camps where she could have made friends. She missed out on going to a school for autistic kids which would've, I think, really suited her.

DD and I spoke to a solicitor today who said it's too late to bring a claim as the 3 years where a claim could be submitted are almost up. Would it be totally mad to bring a claim ourselves? Thank you

Shamelessly posting here to get lots of replies

You've been shamelessly posting variations on this theme for a while now. Don't think you're going to get different answers this time.

Don’t sue the nhs! They’ve done nothing wrong! They can’t just diagnose autism because you say so they need to observe and if your daughter was masking then it would’ve obviously been harder.

If it was my child and I was that passionate about my daughter getting a diagnosis I’d have gone down the private route.

I can understand how frustrating CAMHS can be - have experience of them over many years and their slowness and ineffectiveness with most children referred.

However, firstly, if she was masking and not showing symptoms/characteristics at CAMHS or at school, I do not know how they would have diagnosed her. Secondly I think there are things you just could not prove- it is not provable in terms of cause/effect that CAMHS not diagnosing her resulted in the list of things that have happened in her and your life over that period of time for example her poor attendance, her choosing to leave, her not getting a place at horse-riding or a summer camp, the actions of other children and the school not supporting her with that, your divorce.
It's time -limited so it's a pointless waste of money and will be dismissed.

What about the school? Or your GP?
Why no blame on them?

I have a dd who was diagnosed at 8 and has received none of the thing you said your child would of gotten . You get diagnosed and that's it . Echp for school if lucky, but very few get a decent school . We are homeschooling for this very reason .
I think you can not blame it all on them . If she masked how could they have diagnosed her? .

I don't understand what you mean about suing them yourself. Once the time bar is up, it's up, whether you have legal representation or not.

My daughter was diagnosed with autism at 8 and ADHD at 12, it was still a battle and required me to go against the school to get an EHCP. I have repeatedly tried to get her help from CAMHs and aside from a couple of telephone triage assessments she has had no contact from them, just been discharged for being "too autistic". It was paediatric services that diagnosed DD. Not mental health. So I am not sure CAMH has much to do with the autism diagnostic pathway in this area.

It is possible to access local autism charity support without a diagnosis here as there is an understanding that the waiting lists are long. I think the obsession about what didn't happen is probably unhealthy and won't help your daughter. The diagnosis gives us a piece of paper but you can still use the vast amount of information about autism to help your daughter, and don't be put off applying for benefits related to health as they are not based on diagnosis but need, and evidence of need. Good luck.

I'm pretty sure diagnosis depends on the symptoms being present in more than one setting? So they wouldn't be at fault would they ?

Huge amounts of NHS (taxpayer) money goes to compensation.
None of it makes the NHS better.
Complaining in a productive and useful way might.

the solicitor said ‘nearly up’. Ask for the precise date for the limitation period and also the date/event they are working from. There might be enough time to issue a claim.

Masking is what we do. It's not that we don't want to get diagnosed or are sabotaging ourselves. We don't know any different. We've had to cope all our lives masking, so it's highly unlikely to slip when under a diagnosis interview situation. Nod and smile, alles klar!

Your first point is to do a Subject Access Request from CAHMS, school, social services to seek your daughters records. She is 18 and can do this herself. Once you have these you can make a clearer decision about what to do. My understanding is you can put in a complaint at any point. This will be assessed as a level 1 complaint and if you are not satisfied it will go ro level 2 etc.

You maybe able to sue then. I work in children's services and some of the older kids I supported have done this to seek thier NHS records from CAMHS and other services.

Seeing the records may give you clarity of the decision making.

You need to focus on the now and moving forward.
A court case would take a huge amount of time & emotional energy (& cost)
I would also consider it to be a major negative drain

What would you want to gain from it?

Agree. That alone would negate a claim.

They have to have been negligent and if they see no signs of autism how can they diagnose it. The consequences of no diagnosis can't be compensated for because they did their job.

These cases cost ££££ anyway, like tens of thousands. I know because we have a legal aid case going through and we get tranches in this region.

You can issue court proceedings to protect the claim, but would need to do it before the 3 years are up. Would not recommend going it alone without a solicitor. There are a lot of rules when it comes to litigation and you could be liable for the defendants costs if certain rules aren't complied with and/or you lose. The issue fee alone can be thousands.
Take a second opinion though and ask if they could protectively issue the claim.

They did not believe me because she masked at appointments and at school
So how could they have diagnosed? And given she resisted the possible diagnosis, how likely is she to have engaged with the things you think she missed out on?

You would need direct evidence of masking though. Follow my advice for a SAR. It's the best place to start.

No, I've never posted about this before!

Unfortunately the time has elapsed to make a claim, the solicitor was correct. The court will likely not allow the application to proceed as it is outside the statute of limitations.

I don't have pots of money at all! If I did, I wouldn't be looking at doing this but I want to improve things for my daughter who's an emotional and physical wreck with PTSD, anxiety and depression. I know next to nothing about the legal system (hence me posting here on an internet forum, and why I was asking about doing it myself!)

That must have been someone else's DD because I have not posted on here before about this.

No you're time barred.

What's with everyone wanting to sue the nhs and Camhs lately?

Just need to move forwards with your life and stop trying to be greedy.

A diagnosis would not have changed the support offered at school

No private referral because I couldn't have afforded it; they are about £1000! Clearly I am underestimating how much it costs to sue, because it sounds like I have lots of money when I don't 😬

No, I've never posted about this before!

The level of identical detail is staggering.