SEND support survey feedback 2023
6. Health
You said you needed better access to health services and shorter waiting times for assessment.
Several families shared their experiences of health services. They expressed the need for increased specialist services within healthcare and increased SEND training for staff within health services.
Many respondents shared that they have previously experienced increased waiting times for support, assessment, or for their child to receive a diagnosis.
"Waiting lists for child development centre, paediatrics and speech and language therapy are awful and we are left with no support." (PC)
''We can not access a dentist due to the lack of neurodiversity training." (PC)
"My child has been struggling for years whilst we try various routes to get him assessed, and attempts are often failures due to a very broken system. We are asked to guess what we think he has, then CAMHS will assess for that, say no and ask us to take another stab at a potential diagnosis. Why are we not diagnosing the child as a whole rather than trying to pick and choose from a list of possibilities until something fits! This seems completely backwards to me and is causing a massive, unnecessary strain on the system as parents keeps resubmitting to the process over and over again." (PC)
"It’s taken 3 years of hard pushing & complaints to have my child seen by a paediatrician. Specialist teacher states she believes my son has autism. Paediatrician and SALT (private - language tree) disagree. I’m no closer to understanding what the underlying issue is with my son, no diagnosis, this makes it very difficult when looking at high schools as it’s the first question they ask. CAMHS (once my son was finally accepted into their service) have been amazing." (PC)
"Waiting lists for child development centre, peadiatrics and speech and language therapy are awful and we are left with no support. My child had health problems and was refereed to peads 9 months ago and no appointment yet, referred to speech and language 8 months ago and no contact, referred to child development centre 5 months ago and again no contact from them. We have received a letter for early notification of SEN 2 months ago which says a specialist teacher or HLTA will contact me to discuss his needs-again no contact. The letter directed me to the Local Offer online which is seriously lacking for young children in Wyre. We know how important Early Intervention is but it seems there isn't actually any available." (PC)
"Waiting for tier 4 support for eating disorder service. Been with EDS since Feb 2022. Been on waiting list for ADHD assessment for 2 years. On Waiting list for ASC pathway assessment since April 2023. Waiting list for GIDS gender identity service for 2.5 years. With CAMHS since Jan 2020." (PC)
What we have done and are working on…
We've updated the health and wellbeing information on the SEND local offer.
The autism spectrum disorder (ASD) pathway has been reviewed and updated. The Integrated Care Board (ICB) are developing a graduated approach to neurodevelopmental (ND) assessment (ASD and ADHD). This aims to provide increased support for families whilst waiting for potential diagnosis. Support for families could include advice and support from pathway navigators before and throughout the pathway.
The East Lancashire Community and Neurodevelopmental Paediatrics Service have reduced their waiting times.
The Fylde Coast School Age Neurodevelopment Pathway on the Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust website has also been updated.
The Autism in Schools project has been implemented in schools, and funding agreed for the third year. The project promotes a child centred approach to improve knowledge and understanding of how to support autistic students and their families.
Staff now complete The Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training on Learning Disability and Autism (elearning for healthcare website).
Designated Clinical Officers have provided training to health staff on how to write a good health advice for EHCPs and Annual Reviews.
The SEND Partnership has developed monthly briefings, and quarterly workforce development network meetings, to improve confidence and understanding at implementing support for families whose child has SEND.