If a privately commissioned OT did this what would you think?

[charlie06]

Hi, I really need to know what other people think. I have commissioned a private OT to do an assessment of my son. She went to see him at school and we had agreed that I would be there too. She arrived early and proceeded without me despite this not being the agreement. I was so upset that after waiting a while (to be allowed into the assessment) I left, feeling she was colluding with other agencies at my expense. Would you have felt this way too?

I'ld be very unhappy, as a big advantage to going private IME is feeling you have some control over the procedural aspects.

They all make me out to be the problem so I really thought I would have someone advocating for my child....I must stop being so naive.

She has been talking with the LA officer today also and has copied her into an email she sent me.

Have you paid her?

I'd withold payment on the basis that she did not fulfil her contract with you.

Starlight my husband and I have just been discussing precisely that but I may need her at tribunal/ judicial review and if I don't play ball she will side with the LA and state I am the problem......I feel like I am always vulnerable because lets face it they always seem to behave like bullies.

Have done the emails and pointed out to her earlier that neither the education officer or she had my consent to communicate with each other, she carried on regardless. Have reiterated re the report but she will do as she chooses, wish we had never commissioned her to be honest.

The outgoing PCT OT emailed me from her personal email stating it is a good job the private OT is on my side (indicating the trust were not) but clearly she isn't either. Hey ho, blaggards the lot of em.

Isn't there some sort of professional code of conduct to prevent confidential medical details being shared with external agencies without your prior written consent? The only exception to this rule I was aware of was the ability to notify social services when any professional has a real cause for concern over child abuse - this is political.
I was really shocked to read this.

I have no idea of the answer but we have a few therapists on this forum whose opinion on this would be really useful, as potentially this affects ALL of us.

There is a code but certainly in my area the LA chose to ignore all guidance, legislation etc including most things.....provision on statement (agreed at tribunal), refusal of a CAF (they go ahead anyway if you have a disabled child), liaising with other agencies without consent, holding meetings and not inviting parents (incase they ask questions), holding pre-meetings (excluding parents) to post statement planning meetings and annual reviews (so they get their stories straight incase parents ask questions) and generally clubbing together and sharing stories of how difficult a parents is and sharing smiles and sarcasm during meetings about my son.

Oh and my current favourite, is an email I found on my son's file from the (impartial - yeah right) LA customer care team emailing the education team (who I have complained about) stating another complaint.............I will draw a deep breath and then respond to her.

And the winner for shittiest council goes to ??????
sorry, bit of a rant, obviously more pi**ed off than I thought I was! Where's those jokes about frogs in blenders and rabbit fats, they made me laugh.

I would be very annoyed at this too. You are instructing her and you are paying her. She has her own ethical code of conduct and being paid should mean that she acts no differently in terms of offering her professional opinion. However, being paid by you means she receives her instructions from you (to the extent they do not conflict with her ethical/professional obligations) and she should simply have waited for you if you had agreed this with her.

I think it is very unprofessional of her to copy other people in and if you have told her to stop then she should do so immediately. Explain to her that there are data protection issues about sharing information without consent. She really should know better.

bigbobble, she does kow better she is an experienced practitioner but she wants work from my LA where she lives so she isn't going to worry about codes of practice after all most things will probably come down to my word against hers in the end.

She knows she should have waited for me, I was still there early she was there even earlier on purpose possibly. She came to my house afterwards. We live in a somewhat insular rural area and she lives close to the school, far easier to jump on the band wagon of slating me as a parent than to actually present a report that promotes the needs of a child with disabilities. Her recommendation re - toiletting is that it needs "looking at to acheive consistency", no mention of equipment, would you not expect clearer recommendations in an OT assessment. Perhaps not if your OT doesn't want to challenge the crappy local equipment provision.
And when I pointed out that she may be called as a witness at a tribunal or judicial review, she gets arsy with me saying I should have told her this before. Er hello, I didn't know things would get this bad before and why does she not expect that if a parent is paying £70 an hour for her services they will want her to represent her assessment should the need arise.

Sorry another rant.

Personally I'd phone her professional organisation (the OT equiv of the GMC) and put in a written complaint. Medical confidentiality (with the obvious exception of genuine abuse) is a basic prerequisite to practice. The email trail (take screen shots of times etc NOW!) gives written evidence that she's breached that. I'd print it off, pop it in the post and let them deal with it. Then I'd forget her and any report she produces. If she gives it to the lea - tell her to bill them, not you ; )

Moving on, whether you choose to pay her will depend in part on whether you can afford to a hire another genuinley independent OT for tribunal purposes. I wouldn't pay her on the grounds she has breached contract and has not fulfilled her primary function - to give you a neutral, objective opinion. You still have this urgent requirement. I'd focus on how to achieve that and let her professional association deal with her professional misconduct.

I have already looked at info about the professional body - for OTs it's BAOT or COT. Will ring them tommorrow I think to find out what they say.

Thank you Bochead for being clear, I tend to get cross, rant and then try to come to an amicable resolution (not that this often works, it usually means I compromise and agencies take the mickey and fail to put agreements into practice). I need to be more practical and less emotional - blooming hell I sound like the LA!