A report by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) has stated that there is considerable variation in the quality of care provided to disabled children in the NHS.

The review looked at the views and experiences of disabled children and their families plus survey data from commissioners and acute hospitals from September 2009 to September 2010.

It was found that disabled children and their families can experience waits of up to a year for aids such as wheelchairs, whilst the national average wait stands at 3 months.

Significant delays were also revealed in other services such as Speech and Language Therapy and Physiotherapy. Other survey data showed the national average wait for a referral for Community Physiotherapy was seven weeks, with some children waiting up to six months. The average wait for a referral to a community Occupational Therapist was 15 weeks with the wait ranging up to two years.

The national report in conjunction with 151 local area reports also examined the quality of support for children and young people. It was reported that families felt that it was a challenge to become involved in their child’s treatment and that overall waits were too long.

CQC head of operational improvement, Sue McMillan, said that families can use the information cited in the report to challenge commissioners.

McMillan reported that the watchdog was also “disappointed” by the inability of some primary care trusts (PCTs) to provide the information requested. She suggests that PCTs therefore need to improve their data capture methods in order to better manage the provision of services.

Whizz-Kidz chief executive Ruth Owen added that the number of children requiring mobility aids currently stands at approximately 70,000. She said that from April, the Government’s Any Qualified Provider (AQP) policy would give young wheelchair-users the choice to be referred to providers like Whizz-Kidz if they were waiting to receive the mobility equipment.

“Providing a child the right wheelchair at the right time enhances their lives, giving them not just mobility but independence” Owen said.

Original Source Press Association

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