Health in EHCPs, Talking, Reminders & Links 26th May 2015
Dear All Following the Bank Holiday, quite a mix… Integration of Health with EHCPs During the Open Meetings the question of how Health services should be integrated into the EHCP process has been raised several times. For children and young people with complex health needs that go beyond the core therapies of OT, Speech and Language and Physiotherapy the integration of information on health is new - and SENCOs, the SEN team and families are sometimes finding this challenging. A group of parents within Richmond SEND Family Voice are working with professionals from Health (Therapies managers and Health Commissioners) to agree what the issues are and to draft some guidelines that can be made available to all to address this lack of clarity. The questions that we will be trying to answer are: 1) What information on Health should be in an EHCP and in which section should it be (i.e. under SEN provision or under Health provision) - we will try to look into this based on a range of health profiles (e.g. physical disability / mental health issues / hearing loss / medical care etc.) 2) What is the best way of ensuring that all the relevant health information and reports is collected and input to the EHCP process? 3) What is the right process to follow and what is the role of the Lead Professional. Is there a need for a lead professional type role in health? 4) What is the process for a child who has complex health needs but not obviously SEN? 5) Is there anything that can be done to address the capacity issues around some of the Health Provision (e.g. OT) through better use of workshops / resources rather than always 1 to 1 provision? We have an initial meeting with the Health professionals scheduled for June 17th after which we can come back to you with an update. In the meantime if there are any parents or young people who would like to contribute to this or to let us know about any specific issues or concerns – in confidence - please do get in touch via this email address or our phone number. It is also worth saying that although we are currently working on this for the Health part of the plan we recognise that the Social Care aspect could also benefit from some clearer guidelines and we intend to tackle this as a next step. Talking is good for you! (and thank you)
"I have felt listened to and respected - it's hard to explain just how much weight this lifts off my shoulders." (from a parent attending one of the Open Meetings) Over the last month, over 120 families took the opportunity to attend our series of Open Meetings to discuss the new Education, Health & Care Plans with Anna Chiva, Head of Special Educational Needs and post-16 commissioning with Eamonn Gilbert, 14-19 Partnership manager & Lead Commissioner. We explored what was new, what was working and what need to change. We also talked about what families really want from post-16 education that would lead to productive employment, or other options, for young people’s futures.