Worried about Paediatricians mistakes-WWYD pls?

[osospecial]

Ill try keep this short, dd saw paed for possible asd in Apr. She sent us report. Wants to see DD again in 6months (when she turns 3). These are my concerns:

1. She said in appntm that its unlikely to be asd as not enough regression (just never started talking properly only a couple of words) then in the report she didn't mention that+just said dd has some autistic traits+wants to see her again in 6mnths.
2. She got the date of the report wrong (wrong month+wrong year! 4/3/11 instead of 4/4/12)
3. She got 2 or 3 other things wrong that I had told her (when dd started talking+then stopped etc she said happened a few months ago when in fact it was well over a year ago)

I was annoyed at these inaccuracies in the report and mentioned it to HV who said it should be changed (esp correct date) and she wld sort it. I left it at that but now yest I had the appointment with 'surestart' that the paed referred us to in the meantime, they came to the house.
They said they had read the report but were unsure why paed referred us to them and its not the first time this has happened with this paed. They have no experience of asd and said it sounds like we have everythng under control anyway in helping dd (speech therapy etc) and there was nothing they could offer us (basically a waste of time for both of us for them to be called out and were annoyd at the paed)
As the person that might possibly decide dds future re what dx, if any, should I be worried about this paed?

Should I ask to see somebody else instead or just see how next appointment goes? Will she actually give dx or just refer to somebody else? Not sure how it works tbh but I am not 100% confident in this paed anymore.

1. Wrong date unacceptable: ring up secretary & ask for letter to be re-issued
2. A few items not 100% accurate (how many months of talking problems etc) is probably not a major issue in reaching the correct diagnosis, but wouldn't hurt to send a polite clarification note to GP, HV and paed to add to the files. The letter won't list every comment the dr makes verbally: just the essentials
3. Who should help a child with ASD to develop; is it surestart or not. And should the paediatrician have known that surestart are useless? Maybe

Well, pretty much everyone you see from now on will say it's "not really our problem and you are being unreasonable asking" for their help. Get surestart to say that in writing and file it away. Then ask who ought to help, if not them.

1. I agree with Maria, ime the letters/reports are more of a summary of the consultation, it is normal for things to be phrased a bit differently in the correspondence, I wouldn't be too concerned.
2. Date of report - yes, absolutely should be correct.
3. I agree with Maria about writing in to politely correct any significant errors.

In terms of what happens next, unfortunately ASD DX procedures vary from area to area, they usually include some form of multidisciplinary assessment (so input potentially from OT/SALT/Ed Psych) etc. So I would phone the paed's secretary to ask what normally happens in your area. TBH what you are describing does sound par for the course with the NHS. 36 months does seem to be a key age where the professionals don't just cross their fingers that the language problems will miraculously resolved by themselves, so hopefully you will find you are taken more seriously at the next review.

Re:Surestart. Oddly enough I did get some help from Surestart, as they put on a Hanen course, called You Make the Difference, designed for parents of children with mild language delay/at risk of language delay, run by ed psych and a support worker. TBH I found all the professionals wildly enthusiastic about things like toddler groups etc - a cynic might think because it doesn't involve their organisation's budgets, or effort on their part!

I have recently put a complaint in re a report - and it was handled very well.
If there are a few comments not quite as you remembered - I too would not have rocked the boat. When there are errors littered throughout the report - then I would be tempted to put in a complaint. I addressed each difference as it showed that there was a distinct difference in my understanding of the appointment and hers.
The complaint was dealt with point by point - their position and mine clarified.
Too often reports are written in such a way that they appear watered down from the actual event.

Thanks, I hope it is multidisciplinary in my area as the speech therapists I have met have been good and provided much more help and advice (they seem to cover everything from getting 1:1 in a playgroup to statements)
I'm surprised about the hanen course provided through surestart as I actually mentioned hanen (that I had been using the more than words book before speech therapy started) to them when we were chatting and they didn't mention anything. They didn't seem to be able to offer anything with regards to speech+language development.
I will chase up getting the date changed on report as that could cause confusion in the future-thanx

everything varies from area to area, unfortunately, and even within a city - I had to track down the Surestart centre that did the course in my city, noone professional wise thought of referring us to it while on lengthy waiting lists, I just fortunately vaguely remember it's existence from a surestart flier.