Guidance

SEND resources for healthcare professionals

Updated 11 March 2016

Applies to England

This guidance is for commissioners, health and wellbeing boards (HWBs), health service providers and professionals.

SEND covers a broad range of conditions and illnesses, including:

• special educational needs
• autistic spectrum disorder
• sensory impairment
• continence difficulties (bladder and bowel dysfunction)

1. Special educational needs

Resources for commissioners and HWBs:

• Special educational needs and disability code of practice: 0 to 25 years is the statutory guidance for organisations who work with and support children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities

• 0 to 25 SEND code of practice: guide for health professionals

• guidance about SEND reforms for children and young people with literacy difficulties, specific learning difficulties and dyslexia. Also available as:
  • a slide pack for local authorities and stakeholder partners
  • e-learning from the Council for Disabled Children

• an analysis of children with special educational needs

• SEND delivery support is set up by the Department for Education and the Department of Health and contains a number of resource packs for parents, local authorities and providers, including:
  • Local offer information pack, which provides information about local SEND provision
  • Coordinated assessment process and education, health and care plan information pack, which replaces learning difficulties assessments and statement of special educational needs, sets out the needs and aspirations of children and their parents and informs local authorities of their duties
  • the personal budget information pack details the funding identified by local authorities to provide a specific education, health and care (EHC) plan
  • the joint commissioning information pack helps different commissioners across education, health and care to join up their SEND services
  • getting the engagement and participation of children, young people, parents and carers to make sure the SEND reforms are acted on
  • what’s required of local authorities and providers in preparing for adulthood, such as getting a job or going into higher education

• the Multi-Agency Planning and Improvement Tool (MAPIT) supports SEND service improvements

• NHS England guidance for commissioners is an overview of transforming participation in health and care

Resources for health service providers and professionals:

• Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT) provides a list of legal duties and good practice for CCGs, health professionals and local authorities as part of the Children and Families Act 2014, Part 3

• the SEND Gateway is an online portal offering education professionals access to information, resources and training

• Disability matters e-learning about disability and disabled children and young people for the workforce

• British Academy of Childhood Disability medical advice for education: recommendations for paediatricians is based on SEND and the EHC plan

• EHC plans for health professionals presentation goes through the EHC plan process

• SEND guide for parents and carers explains the system that supports children and young people with SEND

• ‘Not just a phase – a guide to the participation of children and young people in health services’, from RCSLT, outlines how to provide safe and high quality child health services

2. Autistic spectrum disorder

Resources for commissioners and HWBs:

• an overview of what is autism? from The National Autistic Society helps to understand the condition and its affects

• the transition toolkit from Autism Education Trust includes practical strategies to support young people on the autism spectrum deal with transition periods

Resources for health service providers and professionals:

• NICE guidance for children and young people:
  • Autism in under 19s: recognition, referral and diagnosis (CG128)
  • Autism in under 19s: support and management (CG170)

• NICE quality standard for autism (QS51)

• The National Autistic Society have a range of resources and guidance for health workers

• ‘Think Autism’: an update to the government adult autism strategy sets out how the government will improve lives of people with autism, Annex C includes relevant resources, which can be applied to children and young people

3. Sensory impairment

Resources for commissioners and HWBs:

• RCSLT have information for commissioners of speech and language therapy services, including:
  • Better Communication: Shaping speech, language and communication services for children and young people
  • Guidance on quality standards for local authorities and schools as commissioners of speech and language therapy services in the UK

• National Child and Maternal Health Intelligence Network (ChiMat), with RCSLT, have developed a speech and language impairment for local authorities needs assessment report

• Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) explain how the SEND reforms work for children and young people with a vision impairment

• from The National Deaf Children’s Society (NDCS):
  • health resources, including ‘Commissioning audiology services for young adults’ and ‘Quality Standards: Transition from paediatric to adult audiology’
  • professional resources for audiology

• paediatric audiology is included in the improving quality in physiological services programme

• an evidence-based review for children and young people living with sight loss, from RNIB

• joint strategic needs assessments (JSNAs) guidance for HWBs and commissioning for eye care and sight loss services now includes children’s eye health (chapter 6)

• research report on children who are deafblind, Creating opportunities, achieving expectations – identifying and meeting the needs of children who are deaf blind

Resources for health service providers and professionals:

• SEND reforms guidance from The Communication Trust

4. Continence

Resources for commissioners and HWBs:

• resources from the Paediatric Continence Forum, including the Paediatric Continence Commissioning Guide

• guidance to help improve the care and experience of children and adults with continence issues from NHS England

• Continence Needs Assessment, from ChiMat, helps with needs assessments as part of children’s and young people’s planning and joint strategic needs assessments

• CCG Continence Commissioning Pack for support with full service integration

Resources for professionals and providers:

• NICE quality standard for bedwetting in children and young people (QS70)

• resources for children with bladder, bowels, toilet training or school issues from PromoCon