Management Information Sheet

The Norfolk and Waveney Children's Speech and Language Therapy Service has agreed a plan with commissioners to support children and young people on the waiting list. The plan ensures that all families on the waiting list will be contacted as soon as possible, offered signposting to self-care support and/or professional input as required, and that children assessed as having a high clinical need are identified and prioritised for a full SaLT assessment.

Since the start of the service on 02 August we have been working hard with commissioners planning how we are going to ensure the children and young people on our waiting list are seen as soon as possible and receive the appropriate support. We currently have over 1500 on our waiting list and over 2,400 children actively being supported. If you have a child/children on our waiting list we will be in contact soon.

We will continue to provide focused support for CYP who require specialist support.

Project Timeframe

It is predicted that this plan will allow the service to establish a sustainable waiting list within 26 weeks of start of the project.

Our Key Principles

These are the principles that have informed this plan

• Responses should be consistent and driven by clinical need
• Communications with service users will be open and honest, using clear and simple language
• Self-care resources can be really helpful
• Co-production remains central to our ethos
• Information will be provided in electronic form or on paper
• The approach taken should support everyone who works with children and young people with speech, language and communication needs

Going live! From 18 October 2021

Children attending school or early year setting

From18 October we will be sending out video appointments with schools/settings to discuss all children in their cohort who are currently on the waiting list.

The level of need will be identified for each child and young person and they will be offered an appropriate level of service for that need.

Any follow up appointments will be provided within 2 half terms.

Children referred by an individual (professional or parent/carer), and who do not currently attend a school or early years setting.

From 18 October we will be contacting parents/carers of these children to organise a 30-minute video appointment to identify the child's level of need and agree a plan of support.

All children and young people will be offered support through new self-care and training resources on Just One Norfolk and additional therapist resource within Just One Number for advice and support.

Support packages offered will be appropriate to the child or young person's specific needs. The outcome might be:

• No additional advice is needed from Speech and Language Therapy beyond this single conversation and signposting.
• 1-2 additional coaching sessions may be offered to support you in implementing the advice and recommendations provided.
• A more detailed assessment and 6-8 child focussed sessions may be offered to support the child/young person and support you in implementing the advice and recommendations beyond these sessions.

We will be operating a throughput model with the majority of children being discharged once the agreed episode of care has been completed. This makes it vital that there is a timely re-referral mechanism for families and professionals who need to return to the service for further support.

Training is Central

We will be providing specific training (no cost) as a first 'appointment' for individuals. This should be completed prior to any coaching or direct therapy sessions to maximise the benefit and outcomes for the child and young person. Details regarding this training will be provided after the initial discussion regarding a child's needs. There is no cost to this training as it is core to our service delivery. This training will be available live or as a pre recorded webinar.

Releasing Capacity

1. Increasing EHCP provision to virtual whenever clinically appropriate
2. Continue COVID arrangements for deaf children's mainstream pathway
3. Utilise all community therapist capacity to focus on completing the management of the waiting list task
4. Increase and maximise number of virtual contacts
5. Allocation process ensures that the number of children seen together in a single setting is maximised
6. Continue COVID arrangements for DRB/SRB and complex needs schools
7. Continue COVID arrangements for EHCP provision by providing an average of 50% provision for 2 terms (advice to continue)

Other work supporting the sustainability of this approach

• All new referrals into the service will be managed through the same process as the backlog to support consistency, timeliness and effective clinical decision making.
• Direct activity to address the backlog will commence in from 18 October 2021 after a period of preparation activity.
• All EHCP provision will be reviewed
• EHCP provision will only be provided if we are in agreement with the clinical recommendations.
• Ordinarily the service will only provide EHCP advice/assessment for children and young people already known and being supported by the service.
• We will be working with Better Communications CIC to develop the Balanced System for Norfolk and Waveney in conjunction with all organisations supporting children.
• Service redesign will take place in collaboration with partners to develop a long term sustainable service provision.

Making sure it is working

• Weekly reviews of project progress will be held by the service
• A monthly report for commissioners to identify any potential risks or concerns.
• Robust monitoring of response to triage appointments and of the proportions of level of need identified. This will support us to review the resource requirements and pace of work.
• Monthly internal review meetings to monitor impact and changes relating to ECHP process and provision.
• Monthly reviews of project progress will be held with Better Communications to inform and support the implementation of the Balanced System Framework® by May 2022 for Norfolk and Waveney.