Improvements call for children with learning difficulties service

A report says youngsters are waiting too long for an assessment over autism or attention deficit hyperactive disorder, known as ADHD.

This ‘negatively impacts on the support they receive and their chances of success in education’.

The joint findings of the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and Ofsted have also highlighted ‘inconsistent experiences and outcomes’ for those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) in the borough.

The services are provided by Trafford Council and NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care Board in a ‘local area partnership’.

Trafford Council has two alternative provision (AP) settings which provide education for children or young people. 

This includes those who cannot attend school due to social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) and medical needs, or those who are at risk of, or have been permanently excluded. The local authority also commissions other AP when appropriate.

The report said: “Many children and young people benefit from the effective identification of their SEND in Trafford. 

“This starts with young children’s needs being accurately recognised in a timely way by health visitors. This means that children are referred to services, and parents and carers are provided with useful advice and support at an early stage.”

“Children and young people receive timely assessments from services such as the school nursing service, sensory support service and therapists. However, children and young people wait too long for an assessment of neurodiverse needs such as autism or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.”

The report said that, as a result, their needs are not identified and understood as quickly and effectively as they could be.

It went on: “For some children, this delays the referral for an education, health and care (EHC) needs assessment, when timely assessment of those needs would be appropriate.

“For these children and young people, this negatively impacts the support that they receive and their chances of success in education.

“Additionally, children and young people with mental health needs often find themselves repeatedly moving between different services because of a lack of clarity about how they should access an assessment.”

The report said that children and young people’s voices are ‘present in care planning and in their EHC plans’.

Their individual needs, talents and personalities are evident in records and their views are often recorded in their own words. 

“Positive multi-agency work and strong professional relationships typically support these children, young people and their parents to contribute to the decisions made about their care and education,” the report said.

“However, there are still too many children and young people who feel they do not have enough of a say about the decisions made about them individually.”

The report also said some young people’s transition into adulthood is ‘not well supported’ in Trafford.

It said leaders across the partnership are ‘ambitious’ for children and young people with SEND.

Although Trafford’s SEND strategy is in place is requires ‘further work’ to be fully embedded across services, the report said.

“In its present form, there is a disconnect between strategy and practice in some of the workstreams, meaning that some parents, carers, children and young people have not felt the benefit,” the authors wrote.

Lines of accountability for some areas of health commissioning and decision-making have also become clear since the transition from Trafford Clinical Care Group to the Greater Manchester ICB, earlier this year.

“This has slowed the local area partnership’s ability to respond to local needs,” the report said.

“There is an absence of a partnership approach to address social, emotional, mental health and neurodiversity needs across Trafford.

“This has resulted in variability in practitioners; understanding of the additional needs of these children and young people.

“For some children and young people, this is impacting negatively on the timely identification of need and ongoing support.”

The report made a series of improvements to be implemented by the local area partnership.

The services were inspected in October and the previous inspection was nearly seven years ago, in early 2017. The next full SEND inspection will take place in 2027.

Mandy Philbin, chief nursing officer and interim deputy chief executive at NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care Board, said: “As the Ofsted and Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection report makes clear, together as health, education and social care leaders, we are ambitious for children and young people with SEND in Trafford.

“We will continue to work hard with all partners including our children, young people and their families to implement the recommended improvements.”

Cllr Karina Carter, executive member for children and young people, at Trafford Council, said: “We welcome the findings of the recent Ofsted and Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection of Trafford’s local area partnership arrangements for SEND children and young people.

“We fully recognise there are a number of areas where we have more work to do and our focus now will be on improving these services where the inspectors found inconsistent experiences and outcomes for children and young people with SEND.

“We are pleased that the inspection team highlighted areas where the partnership is working well to meet the needs of families in the borough, finding that ‘on the ground, there are dedicated and compassionate teams of practitioners and clinicians who support children and young people’.

“The report also acknowledges children and young people with SEND are ‘well understood by professionals who make accurate and detailed assessments’ and ‘positive multi-agency work, and strong professional relationships, typically support these children, young people and their parents to contribute to the decisions made about their care and education’.”