Partnership inspected in Sunderland
Thursday 16 March 2023
Sunderland's Safeguarding Children Partnership has welcomed inspection findings on its 'established and effective' early help services for children and families.
Together for Children (TfC) the partner agency for children's services with the City Council, Northumbria Police and NHS services make up the multi-agency local partnership that was inspected in January this year.
Inspectors from Ofsted, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) looked at the links and work between TfC's early help services, health services and the police. It is the first time this joint working has been examined by inspectors.
The report has now (Thursday 16 March) been published: Sunderland Local Safeguarding Partnership Ofsted report
Early help services are about offering advice, support and direct intervention at the earliest point of identified need, such as with school attendance or if a child comes to the attention of the police. The services are to help families support themselves and help prevent any problems from escalating.
The inspection letter said: "Sunderland Safeguarding Children Partnership arrangements are well established and effective. Enthusiastic, experienced early help frontline practitioners provide sensitive and innovative child-centred interventions.
"Parents receive respectful and thoughtful services, which help them to think differently about how they parent their children. Consequently, many are enabled to provide safer and more confident daily care."
The inspection highlighted services such as Wear Here 4 You ( Wear Here 4 You - Together for Children) It noted too the development of city-wide Family Hubs and Start for Life programmes offering more partnership help and support for parents and a range of health and other support services.
Inspectors said staff told them how they felt valued and proud of their work, managers listened and teams always worked to address any service gaps; and there was feedback from children and young people, and parents felt consulted.
Inspectors added: "Examples of pioneering work and good practice initiatives by all agencies are making a discernible difference to the life chances of vulnerable children. Services are provided jointly by numerous partner agencies, demonstrating well-planned, cohesive and seamless partnership arrangements."
Independent scrutineer of the Sunderland Safeguarding Children Partnership (SSCP) Marianne Huison said: "We note the report and we welcome its findings and observations. Everyone in the partnership, whether they are in social care, early help, education or the emergency services, wants to see children in Sunderland get the very best possible starts in life and that they are protected from harm and risks.
"We are all continuing to learn new ways of how we help and assist when there is a child needing help and we are pleased that the inspectors recognise all the good work that continues in Sunderland. Reports and inspections lead to recommendations and observations for where there is room for improvement, and we are actioning plans to address the points where questions have been raised.
"I would also like to place on record a 'thanks' to everyone who works with our city's children and, as the inspection recognises, we all respect your hard work, dedication and professionalism."
In health, there is a wide range of early help including evidence based mental health services, which are delivered often in partnership with other agencies. The recent addition of the Healthy Heads team in Sunderland, allows children to access mental health support within school at the earliest opportunity.
There are also joint review and community-based development sessions from birth to five years of age, covering topics such as weight, speech and language, weaning and onward referral to further specialist support where required.
David Purdue, Executive Chief Nurse, from the North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board said: "We welcome the findings of this inspection report and the recognition given to the teams working in partnership to support children and families in Sunderland.
"We will continue to work with our local health services and partners to ensure all Sunderland children are given the right help, at the right time and by the right professionals, particularly in their early years, whilst also involving children and families to continue to improve services."
