LA SEND Inspection Improvement Plan
Over the summer 2023, Healthwatch Richmond gathered information about Special Education Needs (SEND) services in the borough from the experience of parent carers, professionals and service users. Achieving for Children (AfC), a community interest company, provides education and children’s social care services on behalf of the Local Authority. The aim of our work was to understand the efficacy of existing services, pinpointing strengths and areas for improvement that could meaningfully improve outcomes for 0-25 year olds with SEND.
In October 2023, Ofsted/CQC carried out an Area SEND inspection of Richmond upon Thames Local Area Partnership. They found that the local area partnership’s SEND arrangements typically lead to positive experiences and outcomes for children and young people with SEND.
The inspection identified three areas for specific improvement. In what follows, we comment on each of the three improvement areas, with reference to our own research.
Click here for the full CQC/Ofsted Inspection Improvement Plan.
Improvement Areas
Autism/ ADHD Diagnosis
- Reduce the lengthy waits for children and young people waiting for an autism or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder diagnosis.
- Response: Assessments for autism and ADHD will be delivered in a timely manner with children, young people and their families being informed of the process and supported while they wait through services adopting a ‘waiting well’ ethos.
In our research, there was significant consensus from parent-carers that early intervention and timely support are crucial for children with SEND; however, this was not always realised. Parent-carers highlighted challenges in waiting for therapy, EHCPs, and interventions, leading to worsening conditions and missed opportunities.
Parent-carers reported feeling overwhelmed by the complexity of the assessment and support system and the need for proactive and clear guidance on accessing assessments, services, and support was highlighted.
We therefore welcome this improvement area and the important work that AfC have planned. However, timely diagnosis has to be followed up with timely and appropriate support. We heard from parent-carers who, once they had received a diagnosis for their child, did not receive the support they needed, especially mental health support.
Health Visitor
- Ensure that all expectant parents are able to access an antenatal contact from a health visitor. This is a mandated contact and part of the healthy child programme.
- AfC Response: All pregnant women identified by maternity services as requiring targeted or specialist provision will be fast-tracked to receive an offer for an antenatal health visiting contact at 28 weeks gestation. All other women will be provided with a health visiting antenatal contact letter at 28 weeks with a link to a health visiting led antenatal class outlining the purpose of the antenatal health visiting contact and details of how to contact the health visiting service.
Health visitation is not organised by South West London Integrated Care Board or AfC but by Central London Community Healthcare. Therefore, AfC have limited influence on this particular improvement area and we did not include this in our report.
EHC Plans
- Improve the quality of information in Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan so they reflect the current needs and outcomes for children and young people with SEND.
- Response (2 / 3 have been included below):
- EHCPs will be more succinct, more purposeful and easier to read by everyone, including children and young people. This will help everyone understand what the EHCP is intended to do in supporting children and young people to achieve a smaller number of holistic outcomes on their journeys towards their aspirations.
- Plans amended through the annual review process will accurately describe young people, their aspirations, needs and the provision required to meet them. Information relating to the child or young person when they were younger will be removed where it no longer related to the current description of them.
Our research showed that successful outcomes for children and young people with SEND are linked to well-structured, detailed plans addressing a child's unique needs. While EHCPs have been positive for some, the process is a point of contention for many due to delays, inaccuracies, and lack of adherence to legal timelines.
Several respondents also reported that they found the EHCP process complicated and difficult to navigate with a need for clearer, actionable information about the process.
Therefore, we welcome this improvement area and the important work that AfC have planned. We would like to see improved communication with parent-carers during this process.
Conclusion
Overall, we find that the Inspection Improvement Plan is considered, thorough and detailed. We look forward to seeing the implementation of the actions and believe that they will lead to improvements with children and young people with SEND and their families.
However, there are other issues highlighted by our report that are not addressed within this report. We would like to see more effective communication and collaboration between services and parent-carers, including more accessible information and resources. It would be great to see targeted improvement within these areas as well.
