Who would legal action be taken against in this scenario

[Miratea]

Imagine a child is clearly presenting as severely autistic and hits all the criteria. Looking back on reports, it’s obvious the child has autism. But the concerns keep getting dismissed. Eventually the child is diagnosed at the end of school. Not having a diagnoses contributed to an unsuitable school placement, and severe bullying in school including physical towards the child (documented), including hospital admissions, which meant to a domino effect and a lifetime of severe disabling mental health issues. Can legal action be taken and compensation sought against the professionals who kept dismissing the issues and against the school?

I don’t see how you will be able to prove that the disabling mental health conditions you mention were caused solely by the late diagnosis of autism, and not by having autism in itself.

It can be complex to diagnose in females, especially until recently. Many females were missed for a long time as the diagnostic tests were based on the typical male presentation.

I can’t see how this will get anywhere, sorry

How old was this child when they received a diagnosis?

This.. aside from anything else they would need to prove that but for the lack of diagnosis the mental health deterioration would not have happened.

That will be extremely difficult to get evidence in support of even if there was an established cause of action.

Running away and being violent are not diagnostic criteria for autism though they could well be a response to being restrained.

Sorry you have misunderstood. I am asking who is it you say refused to refer the child when they should have done?. Not their names but their professional roles and the types of organisation they worked for. And were they asked by the parents to do so?

10

Which is the median age for diagnosis for autism for girls in the UK and the child would then have had at least 8 more years of access to specialist eduction if warranted post diagnosis.

Are they under CAMHS?

Yes

No i can't see you getting money out of this, and if you are not after money not sure what compensation you are after

You will struggle to prove that any negligence. ( the existence of which is subject to expert evidence) lead to harm here.

You need to prove , on a balance of probability ( ie more likely than not)

Negligence.

Which led to harm, which harm was reasonably foreseeable and was caused by the negligence

There is no cure for autism, so earlier diagnosis would have made what difference?

As claimant you have to satisfy all of the above to be entitled to damages

Get legal advice but I don’t think you can satisfy any of these tests. I have been a clinical negligence lawyer for over 2 decades.

That’s not particularly late. This won’t go anywhere, sorry.

I agree with all the other lawyers here. There is unlikely a case and to the extent there was a chance it would be time consuming and expensive to pursue.

How old is the child? Are they still under 18?

How old are they now? The behavior that the GP witnessed is quite normal for some kids in GP surgeries and not always to do with Autism.

How old is the person now?