The West London NHS Trust had their Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection in 2020. The inspection report identified long Neurodevelopmental Disorder (NDD) diagnostic waiting times within Ealing, Hounslow, and Hammersmith and Fulham Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) – with some families waiting up to three years to access an NDD assessment. The ‘Contact Helping Hand Project’ was funded for Contact Ealing to provide universal early intervention support to parents of children aged 0-18 years on the waiting list for a NDD assessment in Ealing, Hounslow, and Hammersmith and Fulham to ensure parents had access to the best support possible during that time. Through a combination of online group sessions and individual support sessions the project has empowered parents to better support their children whilst they await diagnosis.
The SEND Effective Practice Evidence Framework considers that the “strength of evidence” of this case study is promising – the work has been evaluated and findings shared internally, and the programme has been sustained for over three years, with year-on-year growth in parents supported. The “breadth of impact” of this case study is emerging – there is evidence of impact in terms of the lived experience of children and young people with SEND[1] and their families.[2]
[1] For ease of reading, we use the term ‘SEND’ to refer to disabled children and young people and children and young people with special educational needs.
[2] The SEND Effective Practice Evidence Framework uses two “signal strength” indicators to present the strength of evidence and the breadth of impact of a case study. Each indicator has four bars – emerging, promising, good and robust. The “strength of evidence” indicator is based on how the project has been evaluated and the length of time it has been sustained. The “breadth of impact” indicator is based on whether the case study can demonstrate impact in four broad areas – the more areas of impact, the higher the signal strength indicator.