The results of a major survey into how children and young people with special educational needs (SEND) are supported in Newcastle has been published by Healthwatch Newcastle, champion of local social care and health services.
The ‘Spotlight on SEND’ report is based on SEND reforms and service provision in Newcastle. In all, over 250 parents, carers and young people responded with experiences of their Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans.
This in depth body of work highlights very clearly what is working with the implementation of the SEND reforms in Newcastle, and what needs further improvement. Overall parents, carers and young people are generally satisfied with most health and social care services they receive, and are positive about the introduction of the new EHC plans. However, a number of issues were raised by service users resulting in twelve recommendations to providers and commissioners to help improve services.
Chief Executive of Healthwatch Newcastle, Steph Edusei, said:
“This was a very comprehensive survey and our recommendations will go a long way towards further improving the implementation of the SEND reforms, which are now two years old. For instance, service users need a single point of contact which we believe will significantly help improve communication and service users’ participation in a complex system. We also recommend more awareness-raising is done on who provides what service. There are so many different support services it can be disorientating to service users.
Parents and carers expressed concern about what their child will do after education. We recommend that improving preparation for adulthood is made a priority, including more specific medium- and long-term goal setting.
What came out strongly is that young people want to be taught more life skills at school to prepare them for life after education. We would like to see an investigation into the skills people want and how new initiatives can be established in schools to address this need.”
The SEND Board, which coordinates SEND services and is chaired by Newcastle City Council, has been very supportive of this work. It is developing an action plan to respond to the twelve recommendations. Dean Jackson, SEND Board Chair, said:
“Newcastle City Council is fully committed to the principles of collaborative working with our parents/carers, children and young people. We are keen to listen to the views of our families and to learn and act on the feedback that the survey has produced. We were delighted when Healthwatch Newcastle announced it was planning this survey and we are very pleased with the overall conclusion that families are satisfied with the way we have introduced Education, Health and Care plans for children and young people with special educational needs. We do accept, however, that there are areas in which we need to improve and, in particular, in how we communicate with our families. We have started to address these issues already with developments including the launch of our Local Offer website and recent Preparing For Employment event which celebrated the support we have provided to SEND families from across the city.”
Healthwatch Newcastle (HWN) is one of 152 local Healthwatch organisations established throughout England on 1 April 2013 under the provisions of the Health and Social Care Act 2012. It has a dual role to champion the rights of users of publicly funded health and social care services for both adults and children, and to hold the system to account for how well it engages with the public.
HWN collects feedback on services from people of all ages and from all communities through a network of voluntary and community sector organisations; during events, drop-in sessions and listening events at a range of venues across the city; online through a feedback centre; via social media; and from callers to the ‘Just ask’ helpline. As part of the remit to gather views, it also has the power to ‘enter and view’ services and conduct announced and unannounced visits. Ends
Editors’ notes
- Healthwatch Newcastle (HWN) was launched in April 2013 as a result of the Health and Social Care Act 2012.
- HWN is the independent champion for users of social care and health services in Newcastle upon Tyne
- HWN has statutory powers to ensure that the voice of patients, service users and the public is heard and best practice is delivered in social care and health services
- HWN can give an independent view on local issues affecting social care and health
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