Most children with special educational needs in Medway are waiting too long to be assessed, leaving some at “crisis point”.

A new joint report from Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission identified “inconsistencies" in special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) services in the Towns.

Inspections were carried out in early February and acknowledged while several improvements had been made since a last inspection took place in 2017, action was still needed.

In particular the education and health watchdogs noted blackspots where some SEND children and their families weren’t getting the support they should.

Inspectors found most children and young people continue to wait too long for their needs to be assessed.

This often results in an escalation of their needs and an inability to manage them at school with some families feeling their child or young person “reaches crisis point” before their needs are identified.

Waiting lists for speech and language assessments, occupational therapy assessments and educational psychologists were also too long, the report found.

But inspectors also highlighted education, health, and care (EHC) plans - a legal document which describes the level of support a SEND child needs - as an area of inconsistency.

They said: “The quality, impact and timeliness of EHC plans is too variable. Leaders have taken recent action, which has started to have a positive impact, but there are still too many processes which delay the implementation of support.

“Frequently, outcomes are not specific, appropriate or time bound and the development of children’s and young people’s plans is also hindered by the inconsistent attendance of practitioners at meetings.”

Organisational changes in Medway Council and the Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board (ICB), who are responsible for the services, as well as staffing challenges were pointed to as having caused delays to improvements.

The watchdogs said necessary improvements had been identified and action taken had been effective in improving the service.

It also praised targeted support schemes, such as early help hubs, which prevent children from reaching a crisis point by providing care sooner.

However, the report also said leadership didn’t have measurements to gauge performance, meaning progress can’t be accurately assessed.

It also said cross-partnership communication was insufficient, causing confusion and overlapping services - specifically they highlighted the lack of clear lead practitioners for families.

Medway Council’s portfolio holder for children’s services, Cllr Adam Price (Lab) said he was pleased with the improvements, but more work needs to be done.

He said: “Whilst we have made significant improvements we know we have further work to do to improve the experience for all families.

“We have a clear plan in place to help us achieve this and will continue the close partnership working to prioritise the areas identified by Ofsted for improvement, particularly around communication, timeliness of assessment and transition pathways.

“I would like to thank everyone involved in our SEND community services for their commitment to improving the lives of our young children with special educational needs.”

Cllr George Perfect, deputy Tory leader and opposition spokesperson for children and young people, said: "Whilst acknowledging the ongoing improvements necessary, the leadership of children's services has robustly focused on improving the experience received by children and young people experiencing SEND, however, there remain improvements to be made.

“The opposition will continue to constructively hold the administration to account in this area.”

The full inspection report is available here.

The next full area inspection will take place in approximately three years.