"No one has actually done anything"

My child was referred for neurological assessment over 3 years ago, and we are still waiting for that assessment. I've raised this with my MSP, GP, CAMHS, NHS Patient Affairs, and have even had a complaint upheld by NHS Lanarkshire that the waiting time has been too long. Yet nothing has happened, and we are still waiting.

Scottish Government legislation indicates that this is unacceptable. In Sept 2021 the Scottish Government published the National Neurodevelopmental Specification for Children and Young People which makes clear that support should be put in place to meet the child or young person’s requirements when they need it, rather than be dependent on a formal diagnosis, and that it should be quickly and easily available. This has absolutely not been the case. There has been no support, no treatment, just a waiting list and nodding heads with nothing but empathy for what is an appalling situation - that no one does anything about. No one seems to care.

I'm told to send another complaint, and then another, but no one has actually done anything. So we are still waiting.

In my contact with the MSP, they agreed that this is not acceptable. Yet we are still waiting. Our GP advises that they cannot provide any treatment or support until my child has been assessed by a specialist, and so my child has to wait while their health deteriorates. I wonder where they would be if they had been assessed quickly, I'm sure that early intervention would have helped with their challenges, rather than have things get gradually worse and worse.

The assessment team at NHS Lanarkshire neurodevelopmental pathway advise that they are still working on referrals from springtime 2020. All we've had in terms of support is to be sent to a website and some literature sent in the post. It would be funny if it wasn't so desperately sad, and if there wasn't a child in the middle of this desperately looking for help. My child is not the only one waiting. By the time my child has been seen, they will have spent over a quarter of their life so far on an NHS waiting list. I believe this is nothing short of negligent from NHS Lanarkshire.

I'm considering legal advice, maybe that might make someone sit up and listen, who knows, nothing else has.