Disabled Children's Social Care Families & Carers Feedback Summary April – October 2015

Overview  Feedback from families & carers of children and young people from the following teams:  Disabled Children’s Units 39, 40 and 41  Disabled Children’s Teams North and South (DCT)  Early Help Team  Feed back from April – end September 2015

Feedback Process  Questionnaires sent annually with support plan or taken out on visits  Anonymous with option to give name if wish  Mix of questions style  Scale of 1 – 5 questions  Yes or no questions  Invited to add comment if wish to on above type of questions  Free text questions  Analysis  Graphs for scale and yes/no questions  Analysis of themes for free text  For past 6 months and in comparison to previous feedback summary

Response Numbers Team Children & young people open to team approx. No. of Questionnaires sent – approx. Number Returned Return rate % of children & young people open to team Early Help Team %14.5% Disability Units %15% Disabled Children’s Teams %10% Total %13.3%

Things we said we would do as a result of feedback in March 2105  Continue to explore and support the development of new activities  Continue to publicise information about suitable activities  Look at ways we can improve sharing information about suitable things for children and young people to do  Make sure we always cover involvement in activities and doing things the child/young person likes in plans and reviews

Things we said we would do following feedback in March  Ensure we are always clear about timescales  Review communication and written material on an ongoing basis to reduce jargon  Do some focussed work on developing skills and independence (as appropriate to each child and young person)  Review our contact details and arrangements – especially when out of the office  Share feedback and actions with all  Continue to gather feedback from families and carers  We will change some of the questions

How well do families and carers feel listened to?  Insert comparison graph

How involved do Parent /Carers feel in the development of the care plan

Additional comments parents made:  Emphasised being involved and being listened to  These were mainly from Early Help parents  2 comments relating to needing more activities

How well do parents/carers feel plan meets needs of their child and family?

How well do parents/carers feel plan meets needs of their child and family? Summary of additional comments made

 Majority of free text comments are about the plan working well  There were 19 comments in previous feedback about difficulties getting plan implemented. We have worked hard at being clearer about timescales and implementing things in a timely fashion and are pleased that comments related to this have reduced to 6  Comments on flexibility and being able to change and develop plan is a new positive theme How well do parents/carers feel plan meets needs of their child and family?

Are parents and carers clear about what Unit is offering support for?  We are pleased all families and carers of children from Units 39,40 & 41 who returned a questionnaire said they were clear about what the support is for

Do Parents and Carers feel they have been able to have a break and spend some time apart from their children?

Do Parents and Carers feel they have been able to have a break and spend some time apart form their children?  Being able to spend time with other members of the family continues to be main theme – but even more comments on this than in previous feedback  There are fewer comments on things not being in place than before

Have Children and young people accessed more community activities?

 Over 40 examples given or a wide range of activities that children have done and enjoyed  Families very aware of the other benefits of doing activities and mentioned:  Confidence  Doing things with others  Doing things without parents  Enjoying things  Sense of achievement  Lack of suitable activities did not emerge as a theme as it did last time

Have children and young people developed age appropriate independence?

 Comments made about doing things more independently  Helps children become more mature  Learning and doing new things  Doing things without the family and without parents support  There are fewer ‘not answered’ responses than in previous feedback and there seems to be more awareness of it  Lots of comments about being happy doing things and enjoying them  Although nearly 60% of responses indicate increasing independence we would like to see this increase still further and will continue to work on this  Some comments about developmental age of child and impact of that on independence

Summary of comments made in the ‘any other comments’ section

 There were fewer comments in this section than in previous feedback  Continue to have lots of positives and thank yous for service  Fewer negative comments in the general free text area  Clear appreciation from families  There were a few comments relating to the following but they did not emerge as themes as they had done in the previous feedback  Paperwork too complicated and too much of it  Use of jargon/legal language  Need more support  Taking a long time to get things in place

Some Comments……..  Everything is fantastic  Brilliant – for both of us  Communication is fantastic  Professionals very kind and helpful  Nothing could improve it – 10/10!  I know there is always someone who will help me  Really helpful  Very much appreciated service, makes a huge difference  This is a super service  A very good service  Thank you for giving me time for myself  Great service – very happy  SW is fantastic  Always really efficient and do what they say they will

What Next……  Feedback shared with all teams and discussed performance meeting and other team meetings  Individual scrutiny & action by Group Managers  Publicise and share with parents, carers and colleagues  Local offer section of CCC website  Newsletters  Parent organisations  Internal and external networks  Collate again at end March 2016

For further information please contact: Siobhan MacBean - Disabled Children’s Social Service Development Manager Anita Hewson - Group Manager for Disabled Children's Teams & Short Breaks Team Sasha Long – Group Manager for Disabled Children’s Units (39,40 & 41) Richard Holland – Head of Children's Disability