Accessibility Tools
What is SEND?
Many children and young people who have additional needs require support from a range of services, including health.
Special educational needs (SEN) is a legal term. Children and young people aged 0-25 have a SEND if they have a learning difficulty or disability that calls for special education provision to be made.
Special educational provision is different from what is normally available to children and young people of the same age.
The Law
The Children and Families Act 2014 introduced several new duties on local authorities and partner organisations, including the NHS, to listen to families and provide the right range of services so that children, young people and young adults with SEND up to the age of 25 years old can achieve their potential. These statutory duties are set out in the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Code of Practice LINK .
SEND is a priority for Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin’s Integrated Care Board (ICB). Our Integrated Care System (ICS) enables greater integration across agencies and improved sharing of good practice and common solutions across Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin. ICS partner agencies work closely together and have shared responsibility for outcomes for children, young people and families.
Integrated Care Boards’ (ICBs) commitment to SEND is demonstrated in the following ways:
- ICBs must consider how they will meet the needs of children and young people aged 0-25 and set this out in their forward plans.
- ICBs must consider how to ensure a diverse skill mix of leadership, which should include a consideration of whether there is knowledge and expertise related to children and to SEND.
- Each ICB must have an executive lead responsible for SEND and accountable for how well SEND support by partners is delivered. The STW Executive Lead for SEND is Vanessa Whatley, Chief Nursing Officer.
- ICBs have to work with children’s system leaders, children and young people and families when forming their strategies and have to show how they have met their statutory responsibilities relating to SEND in their annual report.
Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin ICB works in partnership with the two local authorities (Places) in our area and supports the health element of the SEND agenda for children and young people.
Inspectors from Ofsted and CQC review how local areas meet their responsibilities to children and young people 0-25 with SEND. The aim is to hold local areas to account and champion the rights of children and young people. The latest inspection reports for Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin can be found at the following links:
Telford Ofsted & CQC Area SEND Inspection - SEND - Local offer
Each of our Places has a SEND Local Offer which provides a wide range of information about the support and facilities which families can expect to find in their area for children and young people. The Local Offers can be found here:
Shropshire The SEND local offer | Shropshire Council
Telford and Wrekin SEND - Local offer
The Designated Clinical Officer for SEND (DCO) supports the ICB to meet their statutory responsibilities for children and young people with SEND. The DCO provides a point of contact for the ICB, local authority, schools and colleges when specialist health advice is required.
In Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin, the DCO works alongside other ICB SEND team members to ensure the following SEND responsibilities are met:
- Oversight from a health perspective of education, health and care requests discussed at panels
- Working with others in the local area to improve the quality of Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCP)
- Supporting health professionals to contribute to the EHCP process
- Working in partnership with local authorities to develop the Local Offer
- Working alongside commissioners and stakeholders including children and young people, and parent carers to identify and raise any commissioning gaps
On a day-to-day basis the DCO supports the local authority SEND case worker team answering any queries, supporting with obtaining health information and complex cases, whilst ensuring health teams deliver advice and services to meet the needs of children, young people up to 25 with SEND.
For more information about Education Health and Care Needs Assessments and Education, Health and Care Plans visit:
What happens in an EHC needs assessment | (IPSEA) Independent Provider of Special Education Advice
For more information about our commissioned services for SEND children, young people and their families visit the links at the bottom of this page Learning Disability and Autism - NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin
Vanessa Whatley is Chief Nursing Officer & the ICB Executive Lead for SEND
Laura Powell is Designated Nurse for Safeguarding Children & ICB Senior Responsible Officer for SEND (SRO)
Jennifer Griffin is Designated Clinical Officer for SEND (DCO)
[on maternity leave to Summer 2025]
Carrie James is Associate Designated Clinical Officer for SEND & interim DCO until Summer 2025.
Carrie leads on Education Health and Care Needs Assessments (EHCNA), Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCP), Complex Health Needs and Health Transitions.
Hilary McGlynn is SEND Change Programme Partner (Health)
Hilary leads on the health aspects of the SEND Change Programme Partnership, Neurodiversity and Speech Language & Communication Needs
To contact the SEND team Email stw.send@nhs.net
