Creating a modern workflow for EHC needs assessments

An Education, Health and Care (“EHC”) needs assessment is an assessment of the education, health care and social care needs of a child or young person. It shows whether it is necessary to issue an EHC plan setting out additional help a child needs, over and above what is available in a mainstream school or setting. Anyone can request an EHC assessment for a child, including doctors, health visitors, teachers, parents and family friends.

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Once a request is submitted, the local council has 16 weeks to decide whether an EHC plan is going to be made for the child.​

Problem to solve

The existing EHC assessment process was almost entirely paper based. To submit a request a concerned person was required to complete a form and post it to their local care provider, who then had 2 weeks to confirm they had received the letter. The rest of the process carried on in much the same way, with dozens of letters and long wait times with no communication.

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This processed created a huge amount of stress for the concerned parent or guardian, who is constantly in the dark about the state of their application. It also meant they have very little interaction with the people completing their assessment, leading many people to feel their child had not been properly assessed.

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It also creates a huge amount of administrative overhead for the local care providers, with dozens of pre-formatted letters being sent. Most local councils said the final software would be great value for money on postage savings alone.