Decision Report 201900624

Summary

C, a support and advocacy worker, brought a complaint on behalf of their client (A). A was concerned that the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) did not follow the correct process regarding a childhood autism assessment and about the communication from CAMHS about the process for getting an autism assessment.

We took independent advice from a registered mental health nurse. We found that it was reasonable for CAMHS to conclude that A would have to access an autism assessment through their GP because A was over 16 years of age at the time. We also found that the board had communicated reasonably with A and A's parent about the process of getting an autism assessment. We did not uphold these aspects of C's complaint.

C also complained about the way the board handled the complaint. We found that there was a delay in responding to C's complaint and that they were not kept updated on the progress of their complaint or provided with a revised timescale for the response. We upheld C's complaint that the board had failed to handle the complaint reasonably. The board have already apologised for this failing but we have made a further recommendation for learning and improvement.

Recommendations

In relation to complaints handling, we recommended:

• Complaints should be handled in line with the Model Complaints Handling Procedure (MCHP). The MCHP and guidance can be found here: https://www.spso.org.uk/the-model-complaints-handling-procedures .

We have asked the organisation to provide us with evidence that they have implemented the recommendations we have made on this case by the deadline we set.