Local Offer Feedback 2017

Submitted: 27/06/2017

My son has cerebral palsy spastic quadriplegia. Just recently I've caused some damage to my back from having to lift him. I've asked multiple times if there is a way a hoist can be put into his bathroom to help me but this isn't happening. I am a full time carer as well mother to three children just recently I feel let down due to lack of support from the relevant authorities especially as my son is getting bigger it's crucial these measures are being put in place. I have had independent companies visit me to quote me how much the work will cost but due to circumstances I'm not in a position to fund this.

Response: 24/07/2017

It is concerning to hear that you are struggling to access the equipment you and you son need and if you would like to contact me to discuss your individual experience so we can ensure that your situation does not repeat itself I would love to hear from you.  You are welcome to email me directly  jo.turnbull2@wolverhampton.gov.uk

Mobile hoists are available from our community equipment stores and tracking hoists (which are often more useful in a bathroom area) are provided via our adaptations team so we would never expect an individual to have to purchase their own hoist.  The initial route for either type of hoist would be an assessment from the local authority’s Occupational Therapy team and you can contact them on 01902 553666, they will take your name and address and send out a short assessment form where you can highlight the things you need assistance with and they can prioritise a visit or clinic assessment as appropriate.

If your child has an Occupational Therapist already, perhaps from the GEM centre they would also be able to order mobile hoists and can refer to the local authority team for the tracking systems

Submitted: 12/06/2017

Can someone please clarify what the threshold or criteria is for a child to get support from the children and young people's disability team?

My daughter is disabled but apparently does not meet their criteria however no one is able to explain this to me. It states on the information on the local offer that this is a service that is available to support families who's child has a disability, my child has a disability and we have been told we don't meet the criteria to access their resources.

Hello, Thank you for your feedback. I will seek to respond to your queries where possible, however without having knowledge of your daughter’s individual circumstances and needs it is difficult to comment why your daughter has been considered to not meet the criteria for the Disabled Children and Young People’s Team. The Local offer is currently under review.

The Disabled Children and Young Person’s team support children or young people from birth up to 25 years of age. Universal services such as health, education and the voluntary sector etc also have a role in meeting the needs of disabled children; children who have additional needs or face additional barriers which inhibit and prevent their inclusion in society. All Universal services are also expected to be accessible to all children and their families and develop provision which is inclusive of a wide variety of need, regardless of disability as per the guidance in the Children’s Act 2014. 

Referrals for all children, including Disabled Children and Young People, should be made via the MASH (Multi agency safeguarding hub), this includes requests for short breaks. Partner agencies are represented in the MASH and can access a wide range of services to determine the most appropriate service to support your child. If you wish to make a referral, please contact the MASH on 01902 555392.

I would be more than happy to discuss you experiences with you, to seek to understand the feedback you were provided and establish any learning that can be made.

Date Submitted: 07.06.2017

Can someone please explain the process and reason that the disability team is now only able to be accessed via having a referral to the MASH team? This then triggers a gruelling social care assessment which puts a lot of anxiety and unnecessary stress on families that are trying to get back to a team they are probably already registered with. Even after going through all the assessments it is likely you won't even get referred to the disability team anyway which is the reason the referral had been made. I have recently had personal experience of this system and it's quite traumatic. Also, I think in this situation the first point of contact from the MASH team doesn't really fit the reason families are being referred. It is quite worrying because families who really need the help of the disability team will be to afraid to ask because of the process you have to go through.

The Disabled Children and Young People’s Team are part of the Councils, Children and Young people’s directorate. The MASH was developed in January 2016, as a central point of contact for all referrals for children and young people who live in Wolverhampton. The MASH is a multi-agency team with representatives from a number of partners from a variety of agencies including health and the voluntary sector.

Again, without having further information into your experiences, I am unable to specifically comment on the level of service you received. However, if you would like to discuss this personally with me please contact me on 01902 550911.

Date Submitted: 07.06.2017

Can someone also please explain what emotional / psychological support there is for disabled children who haven't got a learning disability, therefore do not meet the criteria for Inspire and also do not meet the threshold for CAMHS. Surely in cases like this early intervention would help but there seems to be no department that deals with these children who desperately need this kind of help. This is one of the reasons I thought the disability team could help but are unable to even speak to them, so my daughter and my family just carry on with the daily struggle until things reach crisis point.

Date Submitted: 16.05.2017

 I think the service and procedures for children with disabilities and additional needs to have an MRI scan under anaesthetic needs reviewing. The service I have received for my daughter today has been totally unacceptable and caused my daughter and me a lot of unnecessary trauma.

I think the service and procedures for children with disabilities and additional needs to have an MRI scan under anaesthetic needs reviewing. The service I have received for my daughter today has been totally unacceptable and caused my daughter and me a lot of unnecessary trauma.

The letter that you sent confirming an appointment doesn't really explain anything either. There isn't an opportunity to explain about your child needs.

We got to the children's ward for 10.45am, the letter said get there for 11am. We were told we were too early and that there was no bed and to go and have a walk around or go to the playroom. Then we spoke to another nurse who found us a bed. By this time my daughter is having a panic attack.

Then we were told her scan wouldn't be until 2pm, although we are still waiting at 3.30pm. I explained this would cause a lot of trauma to my daughter who hasn't eaten since 8pm last night.

Then to be told we can't try to move you until 1pm, then we were told no they can't because the person in front of us was in a similar situation and they called this morning. 

Well I phoned last week to avoid any unnecessary stress and to explain about my daughter's medical conditions and sensory needs, but couldn't get any help anyway.

I would suggest a pre-op would have made this whole situation less traumatic for my daughter and staff would have been aware of her needs. Communication on the children ward is quite poor and we weren't kept updated of delays unless we asked. Maybe some training around children with additional needs would be beneficial.

Also, maybe more work could be done around preparing children for scans with or without the anaesthetic to make it less traumatic.

Firstly, we would like to apologise for the poor experience encountered by this young lady.  The general anaesthetic lists can be unpredictable in terms of time slots because people take differing amounts of time to fall asleep and to recover afterwards so the timing of the scans  sometimes goes awry. However, this does not excuse the communication issue between the Radiology Department and the ward. 

We now liaise with the ward to inform them when we are running late (or early).  Everyone has a timeslot at the beginning of the day and if this is likely to alter, the ward is informed so that patients can be made aware of any alteration to the time.

We are currently in the process of setting up a Family and Friends test which sends a text message to patients (or carers) asking them to rate the service and there is an option to free text any further information.  We are currently developing the computer interfaces to allow this to happen.  This will be up and running by 1.5.18

We have since written a paediatric policy which is primarily aimed at holding a child for an examination but it does detail the need to respect the age of the child and not to treat a child as a young adult.  We have also appointed a radiographer to specifically lead the paediatric services in Radiology.

Submitted: 12/05/2017

As a parent of a daughter who is registered as disabled in the city. I would like to know how the Children's Disabled Social Care Department can act as gatekeepers to Section 17 Short Breaks when they no longer act for all disabled children. I.e. they only handle children with severe physical or learning disabilities.

Dear parent,

Thank you for taking the time to make contact and express your concerns. I would like to take this opportunity to assure you that the Disabled Children's Social Care Team, forms part of Children's Social care and they do not act as gatekeepers to Section 17 Short Breaks. Whilst we do have access to specialist Short Breaks services for Disabled Children and Young People, all teams within Children Social care are all able to access these.

Should you request a Short break service, a Social work assessment would need to be carried it, once it has been agreed that a Short break respite provision is required, the Social Worker must present their request, for this service to Children's Services resource panel, for approval to be sought. This is resource panel is not specific for Disabled Children and young people.

If you would like to request an assessment for your child to access Short break provisions please contact the MASH Team on 01902 555392, the MASH is the central referral hub for all Children, Young People and Adults in Wolverhampton. 

Should further discussion be required, then please contact Victoria Bowles on 01902 550911 or Victoria.Bowles@wolverhampton.gov.uk.  You may wish to contact the impartial Information, Advice and Support Service (formerly Parent Partnership).  You can contact the service on 01902 556945 or visit www.wolvesiass.org

Submitted: 06.01.2017

Would like to know what is going on with the staffing of the hearing-impaired base at East Park Academy. Since September the turnover of staff is very high currently not enough hearing impaired qualified staff, only one teacher of the deaf and she is part time!!

Response 17.02.2016

There are currently 21 children accessing the resource base at East Park Academy.

The children receive a mixture of support in recently refurbished mainstream classrooms, mainly through the use of signers.

In addition they each have a programme of specialist teaching support in the Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 bases.

The school has two posts for specialists teachers of the deaf and it also employs a number of teaching assistants who support children in small groups and 1:1. One teaching post is currently filled and school leaders have advertised the other post.

The education standards for all children at East Park are monitored by school leaders and by class teachers.

The school are committed to the hearing impaired base and to providing excellent provision which ensures that children's progress is maximised.