Physical and Medical Support Team

Who we are

The team is made up of three qualified advisory teachers and specialist support and teaching assistants. The service is part of the 0-25 SEND Service.

Our Mission Statement

We aim to improve provision, support and resources for Wiltshire Children and Young People who have a Physical Disability or Complex Medical need in settings. Support is available for the child and young person, their family and educational staff. We work in line with recommendations from the SEN Code of Practice (2015), the Equality Act 2010, The Children and Families Act 2014 and other current legislation.

Referral process

Our service works with children and young people with a long term physical or complex medical need who are attending an educational setting. We accept referrals from mainstream state funded schools, health professionals, early years settings or from the 0-25 SEND Service. Educational settings can refer using the DART form (dart.wiltshire.gov.uk (opens new window)) and health professionals can contact team members directly to discuss a referral.

We are not medical professionals and cannot provide diagnosis or treatment of any condition. We do work closely with Physiotherapists, Occupational Therapists (OT), SALT (Speech and Language Therapists), Paediatricians, Nurses and other medical professionals to ensure that the student's physical and medical needs are met whilst attending an educational setting. This may include provision of specialist chairs, personal care equipment, hoists and advice on environmental adaptations.

Criteria for referral

We work with:

• children and young people with or without an Education, Health and Care Plan
• children and young people in mainstream settings including Resource Bases from 0-25
• children and young people who have a long-term physical disability such as Cerebral Palsy, Spina Bifida, Muscular Dystrophy, Acquired Spinal Injury and Acquired Brain Injury
• children and young people who have a complex medical need that affects their access to education such as uncontrolled epilepsy and diabetes

For those individuals who do not meet our criteria

For specific cases we may be able to offer general advice, alongside specialists who treat conditions such as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) and Functional Neurological Disorder (FND).

We do not accept referrals to support students with purely mental health needs, but we do support children and young people whose physical disability or complex medical need has affected their mental health.

Our team's level of involvement will vary according to the child or young person's level of need.

What we do

• explain the impact of a given medical diagnosis on educational access to educational settings, parents and other professionals
• provide observations of individuals and offer targeted advice and strategies to improve independence and maintain education access; this includes differentiation, deployment of TAs, application of the code of practice, appropriate language, specialist equipment, setting of relevant outcomes and monitoring progress
• listen to and represent the needs of children and young people and help them to express their views
• provide specialist support for the personal, social and emotional needs of these children / young people when their need is beyond the pastoral support that can be offered by the setting; deliver tailored programmes to support their understanding of their disability, building self-esteem, resilience, and independence
• provide specialist advice towards the EHCP process as requested by the Statutory SEN Team
• provide training for settings staff/governors, on inclusion for a specific child/young person
• provide support for children and young people, throughout all stages of education including transition, responding to changing physical and emotional needs
• where appropriate, signpost parents to information on the range of educational provision in Wiltshire to aid them when making choices around settings
• involvement in transition planning to fit in with timescales for staff training needs and any building alterations/adaptations
• work closely with health professionals, such as Physiotherapists and OT services to meet the holistic needs of the child/young person
• work closely with other professionals in the 0-25 SEND Service to ensure good outcomes for children and young people
• purchase and loan specialist equipment and resources as recommended or prescribed by health professionals to provide access to practical elements of the curriculum
• assist the educational setting with producing manual handling plans/risk assessments for the named children/young person
• advise around production and requirement of health care Plans/intimate care plans
• advise around production of risk assessment for equipment, day trips, residentials, manual handling and accessibility of site
• offer manual handling training for staff who work with children and young people with a physical need
• contribute to strategic work across the county and nationally through regional networking
• use Right Choice (opens new window) to support and signpost educational settings regarding SEN provision, resources and professionals

Training

We offer manual handling training for students who need assistance with physical transfers between equipment; our courses can be found on https://rightchoice.wiltshire.gov.uk/Page/19124 (opens new window).