Test
What is a Designated Clinical Officer (DCO)?
NHS Integrated Care Boards (ICB) are organisations within the NHS in England that are responsible for planning and commissioning most NHS services for their local area. SEND is a top priority for Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin’s ICB.
The ICB is a key component of the Integrated Care Systems (ICS), which help agencies work together and share responsibility for the outcomes of children, young people, and families.
Each ICB should provide a Designated Clinical Officer (DCO) for SEND. The DCO supports the ICB in meeting their statutory responsibilities for children and young people with SEND and provides a point of contact for the ICB, local authority, schools and colleges when specialist health advice is required.
The DCO works alongside other ICB SEND team members to ensure the following SEND responsibilities are met:
- Oversight from a health perspective of education, health and care requests discussed at panels
- Working with others in the local area to improve the quality of Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCP)
- Supporting health professionals to contribute to the EHCP process
- Working in partnership with local authorities to develop the Local Offer
- Working alongside commissioners and stakeholders including children and young people, and parent carers to identify and raise any commissioning gaps
Useful links
Contact details
To contact the SEND team Email [email protected]
If you have a formal complaint regarding the ICB, please click here for information about their complaints process.