25th October 2024 • My Family Our Needs

Children and young people with learning disabilities or difficulties who attend residential schools will soon be offered free eyesight, hearing and dental checks by the NHS.

It has been found that this grouping of children and young people are oftentimes more likely to experience issues with the eyesight, hearing and oral health than their peers. However, they may find it difficult to express that they are having problems or if they are getting worse or causing them pain.

These tests were piloted by the NHS at schools throughout 2022 and 2023. Following the success of the pilot scheme, the tests will now be offered to all special residential schools and colleges across England from next year. This has the potential to reach roughly 18,000 children and young people with a learning disability or difficulty across England.

The rolling out of these tests across England will help ensure issues are identified in good time and that children and young people can get the care and support they need as quickly as possible.

Tom Cahill, National Learning Disability and Autism Director at NHS England, said, ‘Mainstream services can sometimes struggle to meet the needs of autistic children and young people, or those with a profound learning disability, so these new sensory checks in residential special schools will provide the support they need.

‘Having specialist services which take account of an individual’s reasonable adjustments, with support from people that know them well and delivered by appropriately trained staff, will help ensure that they are able to access sensory checks that other children and young people routinely receive.

‘This NHS scheme will […ensure] any issues are tackled promptly, reducing health inequalities.’

Stephen Kinnock, Minister of State for Care, said, ‘I am pleased we will be able to support vital sensory checks for all pupils in special educational settings, in a comfortable and known environment for them.’

The eyesight test is planned to be carried out annually, as are face-to-face dental checks. In addition to the annual checks, termly visits to offer advice about oral health and hygiene are planned to take place. These will aim to allow a safe space to check for any concerns and undertake activities such as applying fluoride varnish and demonstrating effective toothbrushing techniques.

The hearing checks will occur less frequently, being done at transition points throughout the child’s schooling, such as when they move from primary to secondary school.
If any issues are found at the test, they will be referred to their GP or local audiology team.

These checks will be available for children and young people with learning disabilities or difficulties up to the age of 25 years. All staff carrying out the sensory checks will be appropriately qualified and will have undertaken the Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training in learning disability and autism. This will enable them to be trained in how to make appropriate and person-centred reasonable adjustments.

In other news, Revitalise, a national charity providing respite holidays for disabled people and carers, has announced that it will be closing at the end of November 2024.