Resetting Services to Disabled Children v.1
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Recovery, Renewal and Reset of Services to Disabled Children
IRAS ID
300595
Contact name
Lindsay Pennington
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Cumbria, Northumbria, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 1 months, 31 days
Research summary
Disabled children have complex health needs and they and their families depend on services coordinated across health, social care, and education. During COVID-19 non-essential services paused and then remodelled with services often provided online, but many families struggled to cope.
This study aims to learn from the changes made in response to the pandemic to show how services for disabled children could be remodelled in the ‘recovery’ of the NHS. We will also define minimum acceptable, effective core health service provision for future emergencies and lockdowns.
We will use information collected by the NHS and local authorities before and during COVID-19 in five different areas across England. We will examine whether changes in service use were the same for disabled children of different ages and health conditions, and how changes affected children's physical and mental health.
We will interview disabled children and parent-carers and professionals from health, education and social care about the services they received and provided. We will ask what worked well and for whom; what didn’t work so well, for whom and why; and the impacts on children's and families’ health and wellbeing.
We will identify characteristics of services that have worked well during COVID from the interviews and information collected by services. Then we will invite families and professionals from across England to rate how important these features are for services for disabled children. Finally, we will combine the results to make recommendations on how services should be provided to meet the needs of disabled children and their families in the present climate, and what would be a minimum acceptable service for times of emergency and lockdown.
We will share findings with families, policymakers and practitioners to ensure all learn lessons, improve outcomes and reduce the risks of children's health deteriorating.REC name
North West - Preston Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
21/NW/0267
Date of REC Opinion
23 Nov 2021
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion