Learning Disability Today
Blue Sky Offices Shoreham
25 Cecil Pashley Way
Shoreham-by-Sea
West Sussex
BN43 5FF
United Kingdom
T: 01273 434943
Contacts
Alison Bloomer
Managing Editor
[email protected]
[email protected]
Blue Sky Offices Shoreham
25 Cecil Pashley Way
Shoreham-by-Sea
West Sussex
BN43 5FF
United Kingdom
T: 01273 434943
Contacts
Alison Bloomer
Managing Editor
[email protected]
[email protected]
Recover your password.
A password will be e-mailed to you.
The standard of medical care in special schools needs to be urgently addressed in the forthcoming SEND review, according to the Medicine in Specialist Schools Group.
It comes as special schools face a “postcode lottery” in the commissioning and delivery of services that provide medical care because they are entirely delegated to local authorities and their partner clinical commissioning groups.
The report in the TES looked at the national inconsistency in healthcare commissioning and found that children are at risk of harm as neither Ofsted nor the Care Quality Commission is tasked to review health and medical services when they are provided in these special schools.
The Medicine in Specialist Schools (MiSS) was formed in 2019 to “give a voice to school leaders in specialist provision, who want to ensure that their pupils receive high-quality health and medical support while they are in school”.
It has six clear asks from the SEND review:
Dominic Wall, a headteacher in Bradford and co-ordinator of the Medicine in Specialist Schools regional leaders network, told the TES that there is much that needs to be solved in the SEND review including mainstream failure and exclusion, long waits for EHCP assessment, the postcode lottery funding problem, and lack of specialist school places.
He added: “Meanwhile, with regards to ensuring that the health needs of our most vulnerable children are met, there is also much that must change.
“Currently, the CQC has a duty in law to inspect health services when they are provided in residential special schools, but when those services are offered to children with the same needs in neighbouring day special schools, they do not have a remit.”
SEND PRIORITIES 2022
Ahead of the publication of the SEND review, we want to understand what your priorities are in this area. If you work in, or adjacent to, SEND please complete this short survey, which will help us to understand the challenges of the sector.
The results of this survey may also be used for a piece of thought-leadership on the topic. Everyone taking part in the survey will receive a copy of the findings report and be entered into a prize draw to win a £50 Amazon gift voucher.
Recover your password.
A password will be e-mailed to you.