Ayrshire’s health board has been told to apologise to a parent after it failed to explain changes to a child’s treatment.

The child, whose assessment with NHS Ayrshire and Arran’s Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) suggested attachment related difficulties, was no longer going to receive school assessments – but the parent was never told.

They complained about the CAMHS care and treatment provided to their child.

The family, who are not named in the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) report, had taken the child for an assessment but the board found that further CAMHS input was not necessary as the child did not appear to have a neuro-developmental disorder.

But the child’s caregiver complained that the board had not carried out an in-depth assessment or obtained relevant information from their school.

SPSO did not agree with this aspect of the complaint, having consulted an independent CAMHS nurse, but did find the board had failed to explain to the parents that the school assessments were no longer required and the reasons for this.

The SPSO report also found that NHS Ayrshire and Arran failed to follow up on an action agreed after the child’s parent complained to them initially.

Thelma Bowers, Mental Health head of service, said: “In addition to our formal apology to the parent... I can advise that we have fully accepted all the recommendations in the SPSO report.

“We have addressed the issues highlighted and made the appropriate changes, both in terms of providing more detailed explanations when a service is no longer required, and for complaints handling.”