Children s Services - Education Walsall Local Offer Health Services for children and young people with SEND Who we are roles, qualifications, specialist skills, areas of SEND expertise LOOKED AFTER CHILDREN HEALTH SERVICE What we do and what we can offer The Looked After Children Health Service seeks to improve the health outcomes for looked after children and young people who are corporately parented by Walsall Council or who are resident in Walsall having being placed into area by other local authorities. This is achieved by a process of effective communication, mutual planning, co-ordinated joint planning working around timely notification and health processes between Walsall Local Authority and Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust and with other Local Authorities relating to looked after children and young people placed into area. The Looked After Health Team are the conduit to notify the relevant health professionals when children become looked After, or any change in circumstances thereafter. The team co-ordinate all statutory health assessments for Walsall looked after population, ensuring timely appointments for initial health assessments and timely initiation of review health assessments. The Looked After Children Service Administrator processes and distributes all documentation for both initial and review health assessments. The team also coordinate statutory health assessments for other Authorities children residing within Walsall. A key objective of the service is to ensure that assessments are completed by the most appropriate health professional by delivering appropriate training and providing support to staff. The Transition and Leaving Care Health Advisor conducts health assessments for the leaving care population. The Looked After Children Health Team provides specialist advice and support to the most vulnerable clients, their parents and / or carers. The team is a source of specialist advice to partner agencies on the health needs of children in care. Direct management of care delivery operates particularly focusing on children and young people in residential care and the leaving care population. The team contribute to and are involved in individual care planning and review meetings in order to ensure children s health needs are met and to facilitate timely, consistent access to health services. The Looked After Children Health Service provides training for social workers, foster carers and health staff to ensure awareness of health processes; providing specific elements of training to each respective group in relation to health matters for looked after children and young people. Page 1 of 6
How you can access our services All children who are the responsibility of Walsall Local Authority, regardless of where the children or young person is placed. The service supports other authorities in arranging health assessments for children they place in Walsall. Eligibility criteria can everyone do everything? The service is offered to all children who are the responsibility of Walsall Local Authority, regardless of where the child or young person is placed. The Looked After Children Health Team liaises with external health providers to ensure the health needs and assessments of Walsall children are met. The service supports other authorities in arranging health assessments for children placed in Walsall where Walsall is not the originating authority.
The service acts as a point of reference for health staff and partner agencies; particularly social care services regarding health matters of individual looked after children and young people. The service acts as a point of reference for out of area sites regarding children placed out of borough by Walsall and children placed into area by other hosting authorities What we charge for our activities There is no charge for the service provided to children irrespective of whether the child is placed in or out of borough; however a National Tariff is being proposed and this is currently being reviewed by the CCG on a regional basis. How service users are involved in developing the service We encourage and welcome user feedback about all of our service and utilise feedback to improve service user experience.
How service users are involved in deciding what they do Service users are regularly involved in service audit; the results of which are then utilised to identify service improvement. How to tell us what you think and what you want You are always welcome to make suggestions to any of our staff either verbally, in writing or by email if you feel we can do better. You may also be asked to complete a questionnaire to let us know what you think. What to do if you want or need more services
If you feel you need anything different to what you already have you can speak to a member of the service who will be able to discuss your needs and sign post you to other services where possible. How we work with other services We work very closely with other children s services in health such as School Health, Health Visiting, Physiotherapy and Occupational therapy. We have links with support services (e.g. Early YearsSEN service; Educational Psychology, CAMHS) in addition to schools. We liaise with out of borough areas to ensure that timely intervention of health needs is evident. Help with getting there and back (assisted travel) Unfortunately we do not have a budget to assist with your travel but we will attempt see your child in the most appropriate location for their needs which may be in school, at home, at a child care setting or in clinic.
What to do if you are not happy with our service (how to complain) First please discuss your concerns with the Named Nurse for Looked After Children telephone 01922 443919 or if you do not feel comfortable to do this or the matter cannot be resolved then please contact the Health Coordinator for Looked After Children: maria.hadley@walsall.nhs.uk or telephone 01922 443919 or write to M. Hadley, Health Coordinator for Looked After Children at Blakenall Village Centre, Thames Rd, WS3 1LZ. If you are still not satisfied with the outcome then the Walsall Healthcare NHS Trusts Complaints Procedure should be followed: The Chief Executive Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust Moat Road Walsall WS2 9PS Tel: 01922 656463 Email: patientrelations@walsallhealthcare.nhs.uk