Services for children with special needs criticised for ‘unacceptable’ waiting times and years-long delays

Inspectors have criticised Oldham’s services for children with special needs for ‘unacceptable’ waiting times and years-long delays which are ‘negatively impacting’ youngsters’ wellbeing.

A joint watchdog inspection has raised ‘significant concerns’ over services being provided for children and young people with special education needs and disabilities (SEND) by the Oldham Local Area Partnership.

The service had been slammed following an inspection in 2017, where it said the quality of provision was ‘fundamentally flawed’.

However, a follow up visit found that weaknesses were being addressed.

But the most recent report by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission, published yesterday (August 29) states that the partnership must ‘urgently’ address and improve issues of delays, and the quality of Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans.

“There are widespread and/or systemic failings leading to significant concerns about the experiences and outcomes of children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities,” the joint report stated.

Inspectors say long-standing delays in resolving arrangements around commissioning are impacting day-to-day services, and many children with special needs are waiting an ‘unacceptable length of time to have their health needs accurately assessed and met in Oldham’.  

“This has a significant, negative impact on children’s and young people’s outcomes and well-being,” the five-strong inspection team said.

“There has been a failure to address historical and increasing waits in services, which is impacting negatively on the lives of children and young people with SEND.

“For some children and young people, their needs have not been met for some time.”

The inspection team said that some young people with SEND and their families wait too long to access health services, such as speech and language therapy, community paediatrics and neurodevelopmental pathways.

There are more than 1,800 children waiting around three years for access to NHS speech and language therapy services, the report added.

“These excessive waits result in children and young people not getting the help that they need for many years,” the report added. 

“Children and young people with SEND at all stages of their education face unacceptable delays in having their speech and language needs identified.”

This includes some children in nursery education with ‘complex’ SEND not having their speech and language needs assessed until the middle of primary school.

But inspectors added that it was not a uniform picture, and those with complex needs and visual or hearing impairments are offered ‘strong, timely’ support.

However, transition arrangements for children and young people approaching adulthood were also criticised in the report, which found there was a lack of ‘information, understanding and support’.

“Many children and young people with SEND are disadvantaged due to poor arrangements for transition at many points in their lives,” the report stated.

“As young people approach adulthood, some health and social care services are delayed or abruptly stop.”

Positives highlighted by inspectors include the ’emotionally based school avoidance initiative’, which supports children and young people to attend school effectively, and one which seeks to provide a safety net for young people aged 18 to 25 at risk of becoming not in education, employment or training.

But inspectors said these ‘new’ strategies were ‘yet to make a real difference to children, young people and their families’.

“Local partnership leaders and parents and carers have co produced a new and ambitious SEND and Inclusion strategy in collaboration with children and young people, education, health and social care partners,” they added. 

“The strategy is well thought out and reflective of the current needs within Oldham.

"There are early signs that this approach has the potential to have a positive impact.

"However, much of this work is still in its infancy.”

In a joint statement, Oldham Council, NHS Greater Manchester and Oldham Integrated Care Board, Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust and Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust – which are all responsible for the provision and commission of SEND services – said they accepted the findings of the report.

“The safety and care of all Oldham residents is a priority for Oldham council and health organisations in the borough, so we take all reports and feedback on how effective the services we provide to each and every person extremely seriously,” it added.

“It is reassuring and a testament to all the hard work from everyone involved that the inspectors recognised the progress that has been made since the last inspection in 2019.

“We acknowledge that the report has identified some significant areas to improve that we, as a group of local partner organisations, must address as soon as possible.

"These improvements include urgently identifying and addressing delays and gaps in access to health services.

“We are now focused on delivering a priority action plan that will address the concerns outlined in the report.

"Progress against these action areas will be overseen by enhanced partnership governance arrangements to ensure that improvements are made as quickly as possible.”

They added that they are working with POINT, a charity that supports children with SEND and their families, and the Oldham Parent Carer Forum to ensure the views of parents, carers, children and young people ‘directly influence’ their actions.

The statement also said that Oldham has achieved membership of the government’s North West SEND Change Programme Partnership, which will bring in an extra £5.8m of funding for SEND provision in the borough.

“This funding will help us to refine and reform SEND services and is already closely aligned to our existing strategies, especially those concerned with addressing speech language and communication needs of children with SEND,” it added.

The local partnership must now prepare and submit a ‘priority action plan’ to identify how they will tackle areas with shortcomings.

A monitoring inspection will be carried out within around 18 months, with a full inspection within three years.

---

Do you have a story for us? Want to tell us about something going on in and around Oldham? Let us know by emailing news@oldham-chronicle.co.uk , calling our Oldham-based newsroom on 0161 633 2121 , tweeting us @oldhamchronicle or messaging us through our Facebook page. All contact will be treated in confidence.