You said, we did
The purpose of the Local Offer website is to share information about SEND services to support families. We want it to be useful to you and accurately reflect the services on offer around West Sussex.
We work with parent carers, young people and colleagues in education, health and social care to help make sure that this website works well for the people that use it.
What happens when you give us feedback
Your comments help us make our Local Offer better, so we want to hear from you about your experiences of using the website or SEND services.
We also want to hear your ideas to make the website or services better.
When you comment about a West Sussex County Council or NHS health service, we discuss this with service managers with the aim of improving our services to customers.
When you comment about the website, we use your feedback to make it better.
Contact us if you would like to get involved with improving the SEND Local Offer by emailing localoffer@westsussex.gov.uk.
How you can give us feedback
You can tell us your views:
- by talking to us during events
- by phone on 01243 777807, asking for Local Offer
- by using the online feedback form on every Local Offer website page
- by email at localoffer@westsussex.gov.uk
We welcome all comments about SEND services and the Local Offer website, so please share your thoughts with us to help us improve.
What you said and what we did
Here are improvements that you have asked us to make and how we have responded:
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You told us that it was difficult to find the directory and that directory services did not always appear on the search results page.
We rearranged the website homepage in March so that the directory has its own link and we are continuing to improve the search function on the website.
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West Sussex Parent Carer Forum and WSCC colleagues told us that it needed to be clearer on the directory when services were not run by WSCC or the NHS.
We reviewed the way that we present pages on the Local Offer directory. Services run by West Sussex County Council or NHS now have this clearly indicated in the main title.
Working with the West Sussex Parent Carer Forum, we changed the text at the beginning of each service page not run by West Sussex County Council or NHS to make that clearer to customers.
The new text says:
‘This is an independent service, which is not run by the NHS or West Sussex County Council.
This service is not checked by West Sussex County Council and including it on the Local Offer website does not mean that it is a recommended service.
Before using this service, we recommend you make your own checks. Your checks should include being happy that the service will meet your needs, staff are properly qualified, policies are in place to keep everyone safe and you know how much the service will cost.
Use this guidance for advice about what to ask to help you make sure that children and young people are happy and protected in clubs, groups and activities. Find out more on our terms and disclaimer.'
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Your calls to the Local Offer phone line were not always being answered straight away and not everyone was leaving a message so that we could call you back.
We moved the Local Offer phone line to the customer service centre at the beginning of February. Now, everyone calling between 8am and 6pm, Monday to Friday should be able to speak to someone, without having to leave a recorded message.
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You told us that it was not clear how to send us your comments about Local Offer.
We created a feedback form link on every page of the website.
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Parents told us that the Portage service was hard to find on Local Offer and they wanted more information about it.
We published the new Portage web page linking from the Early Years and Childcare section of the website. Portage also now appears prominently on the website search.
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Parents told us that visiting the GP or a hospital can be difficult and that they needed a better way to communicate their needs to get better healthcare for their child or young person.
NHS staff worked with Parent Carer Forums in West Sussex and East Sussex to create information about health and care passports. We linked up with the library service to assist people who needed to print their passport.
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We published support while you wait for an assessment with our NHS and West Sussex Parent Carer Forum partners. This page continues to develop, so let us know your thoughts and suggestions.