We publish a summary of responses to your comments here at least once a year.
Feedback and suggestions of how we can make improvements have been provided through Have your say, workshops, events and engagement sessions. This helps to shape how the Local Offer and services are continuing to be developed.
‘You said, We did/Are doing’ demonstrates this through feedback received from children, young people with SEND, their families and the response that services have made.
| You said... | We did... | Date |
|---|---|---|
| WIN Local Offer website is not easy to use and families want a better website that is just for the Local Offer. | Digital Experience team have carried out a review of the current Local Offer website and utilising feedback received from children, young people, parent and families have proposed that a complete re-design and re-build is the best solution. New site launched September, 2024. | 2022-2023 |
| Parent and families want clear up to date information about what services and support are available for children and young people (0-25) and how to access it. | All information on the Wolverhampton Local Offer website will be reviewed and updated as part of the re-design and re-build. | 2020-2021 |
| The Local Offer needs to be more user friendly and easier to search | We have identified that a re-build of the Local Offer website is required to enhance the customer journey as the current platform is unsuitable. | 2020-2021 |
| Their needs to be more use of videos and it has to be made easier to read. The current Local Offer is too wordy | The specification for the Local Offer states that any platform needs to incorporate the use of visual and audio content. | 2020-2021 |
| There is a lack of awareness of the Local offer, many parents had not heard of it. | A communication plan is being developed to undertake extensive promotion of the site during and after the re-launch. During the year several social media campaigns we run through the council’s accounts and shared by Wolverhampton Information Advice and Support service and Voice 4 Parents. A further campaign was launched during the desktop review of the site asking for feedback to assist the process and help develop the service specification for the re-development. A dedicated email address was introduced to allow direct contact to managers of the site to help improve communication. | 2020-2021 |
| Current website had become unfit for purpose | SEND Partnership Board agreed in June 2021 that additional resource was required to support development of the Local Offer and plans were put in place to recruit a full time dedicated Local Offer Support Officer. A desk top review has been carried out during 2021 to refresh content. SEN reports now linked to individual school website There have also been challenges faced by content providers due to strategic priorities during the pandemic and major personnel and role changes. Delivery of the redevelopment of the Local Offer sits within the Culture of Inclusion project, participation and coproduction with all stakeholders workstream. This workstream aims to embed genuine collaborative working and co-design with parents, ensuring they are fully included at a strategic level. Tasks to be actioned by the workstream include Review and refresh Local Offer Content to ensure it is clear and concise Develop clear process to ensure content is relevant and refreshed Review suitability of current Local Offer platform taking into account that the customers journey should be paramount. Develop Local Offer Service Specification with young people families and providers. Recruitment of Local Offer Development Officer Arrange workshop with HY5!, V4P,and Advisory Board to co-design branding for LO. Develop communication strategy including Blogs/Vlogs, signposting, parent meet parents’ area. Webinars, talking heads about the process. | 2020-2021 |
| Information on the Local Offer website is not up to date i.e. contact numbers are incorrect. | All information on the Wolverhampton Local Offer website will be reviewed and updated as part of the 2021 review and development. | |
| Parents and carers find it difficult to get information about what services there are available and what they offer. | All information on the Wolverhampton Local Offer website will be reviewed and updated as part of the 2021 review and development. | 2019- 2020 |
| The local offer needs to be less corporate and more parent friendly, where they can search for the condition rather than a specific service. | The 2021 review will be carried out with a view in migration to a more visually acceptable and parent friendly platform. | 2020-2021 |
| Schools, professionals and the local authority need to ensure that parents and carers are aware of the local offer. | Awareness raising is scheduled for 2021, along with a rollout of training for professionals to assist the promotion of the Local Offer to parents and carers. | 2020-2021 |
| More visual and audio content is required to make the Local Offer more accessible and visually appealing has been a key theme of feedback from various sources. | More visual and audio content been added including an animation summarising the findings of the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment 2019 and how to guide videos for the use of the Education Health and Care Hub. | 2020-2021 |
| The Voice 4 Parents forum Annual Parent Survey finding demonstrated the need to carry out further awareness raising of the Local Offer with 66% of 89 respondents were not aware of the Local Offer. | Awareness raising of the Local Offer has taken place, including distribution of posters and digital screens for display in health clinics, Strengthening Families Hubs, distribution of promotional toolkits to schools, youth centres and voluntary groups and further attendance at events and open days. The Local Offer has also been promoted by our commissioned providers as well. | 2018 - 2019 |
| Voice 4 Parents forum advised the difficulties in finding information about equipment from various providers and the inconsistency of the information available. | During 2019 a section dedicated to the provision of equipment to children and young people with SEND has been developed in partnership with council and health commissioners, providers, and families | 2018 - 2019 |
| Educational establishment requested more information about alternative provision | Following the review of alternative provision used by Wolverhampton, all providers were requested to complete profiles to be added to the Local Offer providing an overview of the provision, its curriculum offer, pathways and costs. | 2018 - 2019 |
| Want short breaks opportunities included within leisure page. There is a lack of leisure opportunities on offer. | A short breaks review was undertaken during November and December 2018, which led to an update of the Local Offer and the combination of the short break’s information pages into the leisure page. This also resulted in recognition of further leisure opportunities which were given provider records. | 2018 - 2019 |
| The workshop held with pupils at Green Park School had identified that these children would like more information about shopping and eating out. | During August 2019 various shops, restaurants and entertainment venues were contacted regarding their accessibility and the Local Offer updated with this information including the provision of autism friendly times/sessions. | 2018 - 2019 |
| More visual and audio content needed | Symbols have been added to the provision of equipment and outreach pages. Image and additional videos have been added to the Sensory Inclusion Service, Special Needs Early Years’ Service and the Child Development Service. The need for more visual/audio content has been raised with responsible officers for future development of their pages. We are currently undertaking peer review exercises with the Regional SEND Local Offer Leads group to help develop the Local Offer, increase accessibility and promote regional working. | 2018 - 2019 |
| The newly designed Health pages were also scrutinised by Voice 4 Parents | We have attended three Health Workstream, attended by various health professionals, young person representation and parent representatives, at Wolverhampton CCG to discuss format, content, style and mapping for the Health sections of the Local Offer. During these meetings it was felt that there should be a clear instruction for providers to be able to add their services to the directory. This was added as a hyperlink to the Health pages, but further work is being carried out during November 2018, with our platform provider, to develop a bespoke template for providers wishing to register on the Local Offer and the further development of the current user guide. Health colleague have been nominated as responsible officers for various information sections on the Local Offer, continue to develop their services offer and are represented on the Local Offer Group. Any services on the health directory are monitored and managed by health colleagues to ensure these are relevant and up to date. | 2017 - 2018 |
| Personal budgets should have its own tab on the landing page | Work is being carried out by the responsible officer to develop the personal budget pages. When this is finalised personal budgets will be a featured page. | 2017 - 2018 |
| School Accessibility Strategy should feature in education. | Advice and guidance page for School Accessibility Strategy is now also linked to Education landing page | 2017 - 2018 |
| Logo on Advice and Support page should hyperlink to WIASS website. | Logo link to WIASS website has been included. | 2017 - 2018 |
| There is a serious lack of short breaks provision | A review of short breaks and the carer grant is taking place currently with information on how to have a say on the local offer. Once review is complete this will be reflected on the local offer. | 2017 - 2018 |
| Short breaks is not clear, should not be included under care | Have requested that Leisure is amended to Leisure and Short Breaks. | 2017 - 2018 |
| In Childcare the download section should be referenced as funding to make it clearer. | The downloads section has been referenced within the information page clarifying this is funding related. | 2017 - 2018 |
| More sub-categories within childcare section would make information easier to find. | Request has been referred to responsible officer for action. | 2017 - 2018 |
| SEN Report link within school records not clear without opening records individually | Hyperlink to SEN report has been added to enable it to be opened from search results. | 2017 - 2018 |
| Information on dispute resolution not clear and easy to find on EHCP page. | Have added this as an advice page which is directly accessible from page to enable ease of access. | 2017 - 2018 |
| Search for services will pull records from Health section of WIN rather than just LO section, if users do not understand how the Search function works | Limitations of platform does not allow much change around this | 2017 - 2018 |
| Leisure tab should be renamed Short Breaks and Leisure. | Change request is with platform provider. | 2017 - 2018 |
| Travel assistance title not clear | Request has been referred to responsible officer for action. | 2017 - 2018 |
| Avoid downloadable comment section | This has been amended so that all comments and feedback are available from the main ‘You Said, We Did’ page in concertina format for each year. | 2017 - 2018 |
| Multiple feedback tabs confusing | Feedback tabs have been condensed. On the landing page this does appear twice to allow feedback to be provided on every page. | 2017 - 2018 |
| Current feedback form states “Keep messages as brief as possible” this is unwelcoming | Content of feedback pages has been revised with guidance from Local Offer Group. | 2017 - 2018 |
| Feedback process with timescales should be added to the site. | Feedback process was developed with Local Offer group and added to ‘We Want Your Feedback’ page. | 2017 - 2018 |
| Direct contact details should include telephone number | Decision for Local Offer Group, customer services do not recommend telephone contact, as emails allow feedback to be logged | 2017 - 2018 |
| Initial navigation of website is difficult for first time users | It is recognised that this is an issues and further development work will be carried out with parents/carers and young people during 2018/19 to ensure the site is more accessible | 2017 - 2018 |
| Local Offer should be separate from the rest of WIN, to avoid information overload | Limitations of the platform will not allow this presently. The Local Offer Group to explore options. | 2017 - 2018 |
| Some service records out of date | Records are being assigned to providers to allow update messages to be sent periodically, this will continue during 2018/19. | 2017 - 2018 |
| Translate did not appear on IPad | Introduction of ReciteMe toolbar has solved this is issue | 2017 - 2018 |
| Searches only find records rather than landing pages | Unfortunately, this is a limitation of the platform. | 2017 - 2018 |
| Age criteria needs to be specific on all records | Request has been made to platform provider to allow this and will be updated. | 2017 - 2018 |
| More visual and audio content Required. | This is a consideration for responsible officers during the information page review being carried out in December 2018. | 2017 - 2018 |
| Needs to be more user friendly for parents, carers children and young people. | The need for further filtering has been added to the 2018/19 Local Offer action plan. | 2017 - 2018 |
| Use coloured text markers to break up longer sections. Flow diagrams | Responsible officers have added coloured section breaks to larger information pages. | 2017 - 2018 |
| Section called Moving into adult life- Social Services has no results | Information has been added to this tab. | 2017 - 2018 |
| Accessibility- especially more visual/audio content | The need for more visual/audio content has been raised with responsible officers for future development of their pages. | 2017 - 2018 |
Feedback from children and young people
| You said... | We did... | Date |
|---|---|---|
| The Local Offer requires a get involved tab. | To be explored 2019 | 2017 - 2018 |
| The Local Offer requires a FAQ section. | To be explored 2019 | 2017 - 2018 |
| The Local Offer would benefit from a jargon buster. | To be explored 2019 | 2017 - 2018 |
| It is important that an accessibility toolbar is included on the site. | Introduction of ReciteMe toolbar has solved this issue | 2017 - 2018 |
| The Local Offer site lacks visual appeal and there is a lack of local people and places on it. | We are working with a small group of parents, children and young people to produce some video material and other material that will show examples of the type of services available from the Local Offer. This will hopefully make the site more visually appealing and interesting to visit. | 2016 - 2017 |
| The Local Offer provides a broad range of information, but it is not easy to find specific information unless you know what you're looking for. Using the search engine to find information on a specific topic/disability or health condition or service doesn't work well. You found using Google easier. Make the site more interactive Prefer WIN as a comprehensive pool of information that is accessible, up to date and easier to navigate. | We have taken a decision to move the Local Offer away from the Council website and relocate it on Wolverhampton Information Network (WIN). Although this is a directory of all the services available in Wolverhampton and we need to make sure that the SEND Local Offer is more than a directory; we have listened to your views about the current site and agree that the move to WIN will improve and modernise the Local Offer and give you access to information in a more modern, easier and visually pleasing style. This will also include translation facilities so that a greater number of people can use the site in the way we would wish. | 2016 - 2017 |
| It is not always clear at first glance on the information about each service available, how exactly to contact the service, how long it takes for a referral etc. You also said that the information given for each service was different and too long. | We have updated and distributed a new template of information for all those services that are published on the Local Offer. We have asked everybody to complete the same details in as few words as possible. Where possible, we have asked people to give examples of what their service provides by using video material. | 2016 - 2017 |
| Quite a few of the links to Local Offers in all other local authorities within the West Midlands don't work Information on service areas is out of date and links to national websites that are shut down. Many of the downloadable documents have no dates on them so there's a lack of confidence that the information is reliable/current. | As part of our refresh, we have asked all Local Offer contributors/authors to remove all current out of date information and replace it with updated information where this is available for e.g., short break activities. We have asked people to identify a lead person within their organisation to regularly check the information they have advertised and to update it on a regular basis. We have agreed that the Local Offer will move to the WIN which offers the technology to ensure information on the Local Offer is dated and it has prompts to ensure regular updates of the information that is advertised. We are confident that the WIN will improve the reliability of the information on our Local Offer. | 2016 - 2017 |
| The site is written in English and has no facility for those who cannot read or understand English and/or the written word. The site is text heavy with lots of PDFs that cannot be opened on hand-held/mobile phone devices etc - this excludes access by quite a lot of young people. Information isn't available in things like leaflets as well | We have arranged for a translation facility to be added as part of the move to the WIN site. We have asked all those who contribute to the Local Offer to review what they have written and where possible to remove and/or reduce PDF documents. Sometimes this will not be possible but if people can summarise what is in a lengthy document, then we hope that will improve things. Over the coming year and as part of the re-launch of the new refreshed Local Offer on WIN we will consider other means of making the Local Offer information available in a variety of formats. | 2016 - 2017 |
| Liked the way that the front page of the Local Offer invited comments about the annual review and how to improve the site. Liked the 'You said, We did' section of the site And would like to see the feedback facility have a more prominent position on each landing page. Some recent comments on the feedback facility have not been responded to It would be helpful to see, at a glance, without having to click on each piece of feedback left, whether a response has been submitted. | We have reorganised the Local Offer feedback pages and feedback can now be seen across three pages with responses to comments where we have them. In terms of ensuring your comments are responded to more effectively and efficiently going forward, we are tabling this onto the autumn agenda of the SEND partnership board meetings. We have also moved the feedback form around a bit and added it to each landing page. Hopefully this means that more people will give us feedback! | 2016 - 2017 |
Service feedback
| You said... | We did... | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Blue Badge compliment I would like to thank you for the way you dealt with the issue of my blue badge, the agent was very helpful thank her for her kindness. | Many thanks for taking the time to tell us of your positive experience. We will pass your comment on to the service. | 2018-2019 |
| Hoist for Child with Cerebral Palsy Spastic Quadriplegia Difficulty in getting a hoist from the Local Authority for my son with cerebral palsy spastic quadriplegia. | It is concerning to hear that you are struggling to access the equipment you and your son need and if you would like to contact me to discuss your individual experience so we can ensure that your situation does not repeat itself I would love to hear from you. You are welcome to email me directly jo.turnbull2@wolverhampton.gov.uk Mobile hoists are available from our community equipment stores and tracking hoists (which are often more useful in a bathroom area) are provided via our adaptations team so we would never expect an individual to have to purchase their own hoist. The initial route for either type of hoist would be an assessment from the local authority’s Occupational Therapy team and you can contact them on 01902 553666, they will take your name and address and send out a short assessment form where you can highlight the things you need assistance with and they can prioritise a visit or clinic assessment as appropriate. If your child has an Occupational Therapist already, perhaps from the GEM centre they would also be able to order mobile hoists and can refer to the local authority team for the tracking systems. | 2017-2018 |
| Threshold/Criteria for Support from Children and Young People Disability Team Can someone please clarify what the threshold or criteria is for a child to get support from the children and young people's disability team? My daughter is disabled but apparently does not meet their criteria however no one is able to explain this to me. It states on the information on the local offer that this is a service that is available to support families who's child has a disability, my child has a disability and we have been told we don't meet the criteria to access their resources. | Hello, thank you for your feedback. I will seek to respond to your queries where possible, however without having knowledge of your daughter’s individual circumstances and needs it is difficult to comment why your daughter has been considered to not meet the criteria for the Disabled Children and Young People’s Team. The Local offer is currently under review. The Disabled Children and Young Person’s team support children or young people from birth up to 25 years of age. Universal services such as health, education, and the voluntary sector etc also have a role in meeting the needs of disabled children; children who have additional needs or face additional barriers which inhibit and prevent their inclusion in society. All Universal services are also expected to be accessible to all children and their families and develop provision, which is inclusive of a wide variety of need, regardless of disability as per the guidance in the Children’s Act 2014. Referrals for all children, including Disabled Children and Young People, should be made via the MASH (Multi agency safeguarding hub), this includes requests for short breaks. Partner agencies are represented in the MASH and can access a wide range of services to determine the most appropriate service to support your child. If you wish to make a referral, please contact the MASH on 01902 555392. I would be more than happy to discuss you experiences with you, to seek to understand the feedback you were provided and establish any learning that can be made. | 2017-2018 |
| Can someone please explain the process and reason that the disability team is now only able to be accessed via having a referral to the MASH team? This then triggers a gruelling social care assessment which puts a lot of anxiety and unnecessary stress on families that are trying to get back to a team they are probably already registered with. Even after going through all the assessments it is likely you won't even get referred to the disability team anyway which is the reason the referral had been made. I have recently had personal experience of this system and it's quite traumatic. Also, I think in this situation the first point of contact from the MASH team doesn't really fit the reason families are being referred. It is quite worrying because families who really need the help of the disability team will be too afraid to ask because of the process you have to go through. | The Disabled Children and Young People’s Team are part of the Councils, Children and Young people’s directorate. The MASH was developed in January 2016, as a central point of contact for all referrals for children and young people who live in Wolverhampton. The MASH is a multi-agency team with representatives from a number of partners from a variety of agencies including health and the voluntary sector. Without having further information into your experiences, I am unable to specifically comment on the level of service you received. However, if you would like to discuss this personally with me please contact me on 01902 550911. | 2017-2018 |
| Process for MRI Scans for Children with Disabilities and/or Additional Needs I think the service and procedures for children with disabilities and additional needs to have an MRI scan under anaesthetic needs reviewing. The service I have received for my daughter today has been totally unacceptable and caused my daughter and me a lot of unnecessary trauma. | Firstly, we would like to apologise for the poor experience encountered by this young lady. The general anaesthetic lists can be unpredictable in terms of time slots because people take differing amounts of time to fall asleep and to recover afterwards so the timing of the scans sometimes goes awry. However, this does not excuse the communication issue between the Radiology Department and the ward. We now liaise with the ward to inform them when we are running late (or early). Everyone has a timeslot at the beginning of the day and if this is likely to alter, the ward is informed so that patients can be made aware of any alteration to the time. We are currently in the process of setting up a Family and Friends test which sends a text message to patients (or carers) asking them to rate the service and there is an option to free text any further information. We are currently developing the computer interfaces to allow this to happen. This will be up and running by 1.5.18 We have since written a paediatric policy which is primarily aimed at holding a child for an examination, but it does detail the need to respect the age of the child and not to treat a child as a young adult. We have also appointed a radiographer to specifically lead the paediatric services in Radiology. | 2017-2018 |
| Short Breaks As a parent of a daughter who is registered as disabled in the city. I would like to know how the Children's Disabled Social Care Department can act as gatekeepers to Section 17 Short Breaks when they no longer act for all disabled children. I.e., they only handle children with severe physical or learning disabilities. | Thank you for taking the time to make contact and express your concerns. I would like to take this opportunity to assure you that the Disabled Children's Social Care Team, forms part of Children's Social care and they do not act as gatekeepers to Section 17 Short Breaks. Whilst we do have access to specialist Short Breaks services for Disabled Children and Young People, all teams within Children Social care are all able to access these. Should you request a Short break service, a Social work assessment would need to be carried it, once it has been agreed that a Short break respite provision is required, the Social Worker must present their request, for this service to Children's Services resource panel, for approval to be sought. This is resource panel is not specific for Disabled Children and young people. If you would like to request an assessment for your child to access Short break provisions please contact the MASH Team on 01902 555392, the MASH is the central referral hub for all Children, Young People and Adults in Wolverhampton. Further to this information is accessible via the Local Offer regarding Short Breaks. Should further discussion be required, then please contact Victoria Bowles on 01902 550911 or Victoria.Bowles@wolverhampton.gov.uk. You may wish to contact the impartial Information, Advice and Support Service (formerly Parent Partnership). You can contact the service on 01902 556945 or www.wolvesiass.org | 2017-2018 |
| Staffing at the Hearing Impairment Resource Base, East Park Academy Would like to know what is going on with the staffing of the hearing-impaired base at East Park Academy. Since September the turnover of staff is very high currently not enough hearing-impaired qualified staff, only one teacher of the deaf and she is part time | There are currently 21 children accessing the resource base at East Park Academy. The children receive a mixture of support in recently refurbished mainstream classrooms, mainly through the use of signers. In addition they each have a programme of specialist teaching support in the Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 bases. The school has two posts for specialists teachers of the deaf and it also employs a number of teaching assistants who support children in small groups and 1:1. One teaching post is currently filled and school leaders have advertised the other post. The education standards for all children at East Park are monitored by school leaders and by class teachers. The school are committed to the hearing impaired base and to providing excellent provision which ensures that children's progress is maximised. | 2017-2018 |
| Continence Pad Deliveries Where can I find information about the Continence service and the number of pads issued? As continence service had run out of the type and size of pad my child needed but not realised. They were going to re-stock, but it would take two weeks. | From September 2016, the change to the new supplier has meant that an improved software system has been installed which will result in superior stock control. Administration staff will now be located close to clinical staff to ensure that any issues similar to the one brought up which may occur in the future will be managed in an efficient manner and ensure suitable alternative products will be suggested or made available. With regards to the service currently the maximum number of pads provided is 3 per day although if the professional undertaking the comprehensive assessment can demonstrate there is a clinical need for additional provision this clinical need will be met. Also, if families phone the department earlier than expected due to running out of pads, as a result of clinical need changing, a reassessment will be arranged. Products can also be collected form Bentley Bridge by prior arrangement. If you would like to contact the service directly the contact details are: The Continence Care Service Pendeford Health Centre Whitburn Close Pendeford Wolverhampton WV9 5NJ | 2016-2017 |
| Orthotics service It would be helpful to have some information on the Local Offer regarding Orthotics. There is a long delay in waiting for splints and boots without information or help provided by members of staff regarding purchasing shoes to fit over splints. A helpful guide would be very useful and a list of shops which sell the most suitable shoes. At New Cross hospital it is difficult dealing with different people who don't know the needs of your child. After attending this clinic my daughter always has major meltdowns. | Thank you for your question. Following this feedback form, it was apparent that due to an oversight there was no information on the Local Offer regarding the Orthotics service that is available. This is now in the process of being rectified and the information will be uploaded in the near future. The department have put together a comprehensive information sheet about purchasing shoes to fit over AFOs (splints) and this is currently going through the process of being ratified at the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust. Once this is complete the information sheet will be given to any parent/carer or child where splints have been prescribed. Once agreed these forms will also be available on the local offer website. Currently the waiting times for routine appointments is 4 weeks. The service has recently changed their footwear supplier to improve delivery times of paediatric footwear and they now have a guaranteed delivery time of 5 days as opposed to 14-21 days as it was from the previous supplier. This change in supplier is as a result of concerns raised about the delay in waiting for paediatric footwear, which have now been addressed. All orthotic patients have the right to see the same orthotist throughout their treatment and there are several posters up in the orthotics department and clinic rooms advising patients of this. However, at the Gem centre where some clinics occur, once or twice a week, this is not the case as the room is not solely used for orthotics. However, the clinic at the Gem centre is run by the same orthotist unless they are on sick or annual leave. The orthotic department are keen to address any issues which their patients have with the service they receive and would value these concerns being raised directly with the department so the concerns can be addressed. These can be raised with Nicola Eddison, Orthotics Service Manager/Principal Orthotics on 01902 307 999 ext.8568 Or if you would like to address your concerns with an independent department please contact either: Patient Experience Team Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust New Cross Hospital Zone C, location C2 Wolverhampton Road Wolverhampton WV10 0QP or Healthwatch Wolverhampton E mail info@healthwatchwolverhampton.co.uk | 2016-2017 |