Issues with private diagnosis being accepted by schools and NHS?

Hi all. Hoping you can help. I've seen on some Facebook groups that getting schools and the NHS to accept a private diagnosis can be an issue, but I can't find the posts and I don't remember why. 

Does anyone have any advice on this? 

Thank you!

Parents
  • Don’t see why it would be an issue. That’s a strange one. I don’t see why they wouldn’t accept it. I guess everything done privately can be less credible in this country. For example People have had a private prescription in Britain and been arrested by the police for possessing illegal drugs. Even though it was perfectly legal and a private doctor prescribed it the police didn’t believe it and thought they were just lying. Eventually they did get let free as they hadn’t done anything wrong but my example is kind of saying that unless it comes from the NHS a lot of people simply won’t believe it’s credibility sadly. Unless your kids go to private school then they should be fine the school will probably believe the diagnosis then. My advice to you would be - if you’re going to get a private diagnosis then I would get all the paperwork to prove that it is legitimate. Then they should have no problem believing you. Hope this helps and good luck with your diagnoses.

  • If the diagnosis has been carried out by a qualified professional there is no valid reason why it should not be accepted by the school and NHS. One issue may be "gatekeeping" - one way that education authorities cut costs is by insisting that their Ed Psych does the assessment, and making you wait ... a delay of six months in getting an EHCP can save the authority the cost of employing an extra TA or whatever for those six months. This is also the reason why applications for EHCPs get rejected the first time round ... it takes months for the appeal, and the authority does not have to pay for provision. It is cynical and unethical.

    The school DOES have to accept the diagnosis and any recommendations and put in reasonable accommodations from its SEND budget ... up to a point. The get-out is where accommodations may be considered "inefficient to the education of other pupils" ( which usually means too expensive.)  If the accommodations need funding, the school should initiate the request for an EHCP, or the parent may go straight to the LEA.  If you feel you are being obstructed, take advice from a qualified adviser  (including the NAS helpline) or a lawyer specialising in education law.

Reply
  • If the diagnosis has been carried out by a qualified professional there is no valid reason why it should not be accepted by the school and NHS. One issue may be "gatekeeping" - one way that education authorities cut costs is by insisting that their Ed Psych does the assessment, and making you wait ... a delay of six months in getting an EHCP can save the authority the cost of employing an extra TA or whatever for those six months. This is also the reason why applications for EHCPs get rejected the first time round ... it takes months for the appeal, and the authority does not have to pay for provision. It is cynical and unethical.

    The school DOES have to accept the diagnosis and any recommendations and put in reasonable accommodations from its SEND budget ... up to a point. The get-out is where accommodations may be considered "inefficient to the education of other pupils" ( which usually means too expensive.)  If the accommodations need funding, the school should initiate the request for an EHCP, or the parent may go straight to the LEA.  If you feel you are being obstructed, take advice from a qualified adviser  (including the NAS helpline) or a lawyer specialising in education law.

Children
No Data