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´óÐãÊÓƵ’s services for children and young people with SEND were inspected by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in April 2024. The whole local area partnership was part of the inspection which includes NHS Herefordshire and ´óÐãÊÓƵ Integrated Care Board and ´óÐãÊÓƵ County Council.

The local area partnership is working through the Priority Action Plan and SEND Improvement Plan following the outcome of the inspection. 

Key progress includes:

• recruitment of new SEND Casework Officers to increase capacity in the teams who support the coordination and management of Education Health and Care Plans (EHCPs)
• recruitment of an Epilepsy Nurse and a procurement process underway to reduce Community Paediatrics waiting times
• starting the transfer of up to 250 young people aged 16+ to an independent accredited autism assessment provider with the aim of improving their waiting time
• co-production sessions with parent carers around a new care pathway for autism and ADHD diagnostic assessments for children and young people aged 0 to 18 years, which will eventually replace the Umbrella Pathway
• commissioning Dingley’s Promise to provide two Early Years Enhanced Provisions in Droitwich and Worcester which will be accompanied by extensive outreach support services, including support to local nursery settings and family support.
• co-production with parent carers to discuss areas of improvement, particularly on the topics of data/attendance, specialist placements, EHCP timeliness and quality, and CAMHS waiting times

The full information can be found here: What we’re doing to improve SEND services following the 2024 Ofsted and CQC inspection.