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Overall variation in experiences by groups with different characteristics

3. Involvement in the process 1 Introduction

3.8. Experiences of working with professionals

In previous sections we have reported on parent and young people’s views on the extent and nature of their involvement in the process of getting an EHC plan, and whether they felt that steps had been taken to aid the involvement of the child/young person during the EHC needs assessment and planning process. The survey also included questions to understand parent and young people’s views of the professionals and staff that they worked with.

The Children and Families Act 2014 and Care Act 2014 place requirements on local authorities to work in partnership and cooperation with other service providers – including education and training services and care and healthcare services – where it benefits the wellbeing of children and young people with SEND. Previous qualitative research

conducted for the Department for Education67 found that parents tended to be more satisfied where the process built up a complete picture of the child/young person, in a manner that went beyond a purely academic context; while dissatisfaction was

sometimes associated with a lack of meaningful input from Health and Social Services. The study also established that, while individual staff were a key factor in influencing whether parents were satisfied with their experience of the process, the skills and experience of staff deployed at key points of the process was variable from one service agency to another.

Parent’s and young people’s views on the professionals they worked with during the process are shown in Figure 3.14. Specifically, parents and young people were asked how knowledgeable staff were about the EHC plan process; and whether or not different services (i.e. education, health and care services) worked together to make the EHC plan.

67Skipp & Hopwood (2016) Mapping user experience of the Education, Health and Care plan process: a qualitative study.

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Figure 3.14: Parent and young people’s views on working with others throughout the process

Four-fifths of parents reported that the staff they were dealing with were knowledgeable about the process to some extent at least (82%). Over half (56%) reported that this was the case most or all of the time and just over a quarter (26%) that it was the case some of the time. Around one in eight parents and young people (13%) reported that staff were

not knowledgeable about the process.

48% 56% 25% 26% 13% 13% 12% 4% 2% 2%

Different services (i.e. education, health and care services) worked together to make the

EHC plan

The staff you were dealing with were knowledgeable about the process

Yes, most or all of the time Yes, some of the time No Don't know Prefer not to say

Base: All parents and young people (13,643) Base: All parents (10,675) Yes: 82%

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Parents and young people who found that getting an EHC plan took a long time or involved multiple requests were much less likely to find that staff were knowledgeable:

• Parents and young people who said that the EHC plan process took within the required 20-weeks were more likely to report that staff were knowledgeable (90%, compared with 68% of those saying that it took more than 10 months).

• Parents and young people who got their EHC plan after the first request were more likely to report that staff were knowledgeable than those who had to make more than one request to get an EHC plan (83% compared with 71%).

Where the EHC plan covered education, health and care needs, it was more common for the parent or young person to report that staff were knowledgeable (88%, compared with 80% of cases where the EHC plan covered education and health needs and 79% of cases where the EHC plan covered education needs only).

Parents and young people in a local authority area with no SEND tribunal appeals were more likely to report that staff were knowledgeable (88%, compared with 76% of those in areas with more than 5 appeals per 10,000 of the population of 0-18 year-olds).

Close to three-quarters of parents and young people reported that different services worked together to some extent at least (74%) (Figure 3.14). Just under half (48%) reported that this happened most or all of the time and a quarter (25%) that this happened some of the time.68

Where the EHC plan covered education, health and care needs, it was more common for the parent or young person to report that different services worked together (84%,

compared with 75% of cases where the EHC plan covered education and health needs, 76% of cases where the EHC plan covered education and care needs, and 72% of cases where the EHC plan covered health and care needs).

Where the child/young person had no previous SEN Statement, parents and young people were more likely to report that different services worked together (82%, compared with 69% of those with a previous SEN Statement).

68Skipp & Hopwood (2016) Mapping user experience of the Education, Health and Care plan process: a qualitative study found qualitative evidence from practitioners of various barriers to health and care

providers engaging in the process, including limited process guidance for non-education based providers; a lack of organisational change to effectively include health and care within process delivery; and difficulties for health professionals in meeting the statutory deadlines for completing the EHC needs assessment process.

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Parents and young people also felt that the different services worked together better for cases involving younger children than older ones as is shown in Table 3.6 below: Table 3.6: Whether or not different services worked together to make the EHC plan, by age of the child/young person

All

Age of child/young person with EHC plan

Under 5 5 – 10 11-15 16-25

% % % % %

Base: All parents and young people (13,643) (1,087) (4,931) (4,690) (2,935)

Different services (i.e. education, health and care services) worked together to make the EHC plan

Yes, most or all of the time 48 62 54 44 41

Yes, some of the time 25 25 25 26 25

No 13 7 10 15 17

Don’t know 12 5 9 14 17

Prefer not to say 2 1 2 2 2

Some differences in perceptions were also evident by type of SEND. Where the

child/young person’s primary special educational need was a multi-sensory impairment or a profound and multiple learning difficulty, it was more common for the parent or young person to report that different services worked together (86% and 81% respectively, compared with 74% of parents and young people overall).

Parents and young people who reported that the EHC plan process took within the required 20-weeks were more likely to report that different services worked together (81%, compared with 69% of those reporting that it took more than 10 months).

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3.9. Summary