Carmelita offers a great service to children
In my role as Cabinet member for Children’s Services, I had the pleasure of attending the formal opening of Carmelita House at lunch time with John Bercow MP. Carmelita House is the new building where we have based the Ealing Service for Children with Additional Needs (ESCAN), which will provide an integrated service for children in Ealing. Integrated is one of these jargon words, but is very appropriate in this instance. We have brought together 185 staff from both the Ealing Primary care Trust (PCT) and Ealing Council and put them in the one building. Now parents of children, many with profound needs do not need to traverse the Borough for a meeting with one specialist in a PCT building and then across the otherside of the borough for a meeting with a social worker etc. Carmelita House is centrally located in Ealing Broadway and is close to bus, tube and train access.
Co-locating staff and services on a single site was seen as a critical step in making sure that ESCAN’s service was centered on the needs of children and their families. It was rated very desirable by our parent’s forum who advised on the development of the new service. Having said that, the staff I spoke to yesterday were also very pleased with being all on the same site. It makes it easier for them to discuss cases with colleagues and the new offices are a very pleasant working environment.
The ground floor of the building is fitted out as a health care centre with consulting, audiology, speech and language therapy, paediatric physiotherapy and occupational therapy rooms, as well an IT and resource room for parents and families. The remaining floors of the building are occupied by office based employees and admin staff; some of whom also work externally at schools, health centres, etc.
John Bercow spoke very passionately about the need to improve services for children with disabilities. His own son is autistic with speech and language difficulties. John’s passion for the subject led him to be approached by the Government to carry out a review of the services provided to children aged 0-19 with speech, language and communication needs (the Bercow Review). The final report will be published in a couple of days time. John was certainly impressed by what he saw at Carmelita House.
The building was named in honour of Carmelita Adams, who served the borough for 40 years and was the designated child protection nurse until her untimely death. It was nice to see her son at the opening ceremony and I’m sure that this dedication made him proud.
Tags: Bercow Review, Carmelita Adams, Carmelita House, Ealing Children's Services, Ealing PCT, ESCAN
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