Many children diagnosed with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) can face extra challenges during hospital stays, from communication, parental respite, to extra safety risks. I am calling on the government to fund targeted a care package for children with SEND during hospitalisation.

We call on the Government to introduce a targeted care package to improve hospital care for SEND children. We think this should include specialised beds on all children’s wards, private spaces, assigned SEND support workers, respite support for parents, better awareness of rare conditions, improved communication between teams, and recognition of parental observations during admissions, as SEND children may struggle to communicate needs or deteriorate suddenly.