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NHS is refusing treatment to children attending private schools.

(111 Posts)
grandmac Sun 08-Jun-25 14:33:44

I am shocked to read that some children attending private schools have been refused NHS treatment. And in Scotland at least one child has been excluded from ward tutoring unless his parents pay. Is this an extension of the Labour government's vindictive attitude to those they think of as 'elite'? The NHS was founded on the principle of being free to ALL regardless of ability to pay. If the NHS said we are not treating you because you are a certain colour/religion/ethnicity there would rightly be an outcry. What do others think?

LizzieDrip Sun 08-Jun-25 18:05:16

Lathyrus3

I have reread what is available.

As far as I can gather the mother is nit requesting medical intervention via the GP. She is requesting provision to meet the child’s educational needs. Presumably in school. For this to happen an assessment of educational need has to take place. Otherwise how do you know what to provide.

The responsibility for carrying this out rests with the school.

The letter from the Health authority says that once this has been carried out and the child has an EHCP then treatment is available in the same way that it is for any other child.

There’s really no need for all this. Just get the assessment done.

Yep!

Jaxjacky Sun 08-Jun-25 18:04:22

Allira

It is splitting hairs.

SEND is funded by the NHS
Regardless of the fact that these parents pay for private education for their child, they will still be paying NI and taxes which fund the NHS which is denying treatment to their child.

Allira according to my daughter who works in a SEND school it’s funded by the local authority?
Yes, I’d like more information on the OP’s statement, so questions do need to be asked.

Whitewavemark2 Sun 08-Jun-25 18:04:04

love0c

I have read that children who receive private education have been not allowed to access state education while in hospital. Sorry to say that this does not surprise me at all. Labour is and always has been based on the 'Politics of Envy'. Labour = Get someone else to pay!!!

That was a Tory policy,😄😄

Chocolatelovinggran Sun 08-Jun-25 18:01:47

Some special schools are private. The local authority pays for many children in such establishments.

Lathyrus3 Sun 08-Jun-25 17:57:18

I have reread what is available.

As far as I can gather the mother is nit requesting medical intervention via the GP. She is requesting provision to meet the child’s educational needs. Presumably in school. For this to happen an assessment of educational need has to take place. Otherwise how do you know what to provide.

The responsibility for carrying this out rests with the school.

The letter from the Health authority says that once this has been carried out and the child has an EHCP then treatment is available in the same way that it is for any other child.

There’s really no need for all this. Just get the assessment done.

love0c Sun 08-Jun-25 17:23:58

I have read that children who receive private education have been not allowed to access state education while in hospital. Sorry to say that this does not surprise me at all. Labour is and always has been based on the 'Politics of Envy'. Labour = Get someone else to pay!!!

escaped Sun 08-Jun-25 17:20:33

I'm surprised that the parent doesn't have a sufficiently good relationship with the child's prep school to keep this out of the papers. They usually work in partnership.
I'm not saying it should be kept quiet if something is really amiss, but it is fake news to present it in such a negative way.

Allira Sun 08-Jun-25 17:14:08

Lathyrus3

Everybody else has to have an initial assessment carried out by the school. Why not them?

I would have presumed that a physical problem like hypermobility would have been assessed by GP and diagnosed by a NHS Consultant.

Well, I know that is the process involved. The referral onwards would be from the Consultant.

Lathyrus3 Sun 08-Jun-25 17:09:36

Everybody else has to have an initial assessment carried out by the school. Why not them?

Lathyrus3 Sun 08-Jun-25 17:08:33

Yes absolutely and the sooner they access the treatment the better.

They just need the school to carry out the initial assessment.

Then, as the letter says they will be able to access treatment just like any other child.

Allira Sun 08-Jun-25 17:03:52

It is splitting hairs.

SEND is funded by the NHS
Regardless of the fact that these parents pay for private education for their child, they will still be paying NI and taxes which fund the NHS which is denying treatment to their child.

Lathyrus3 Sun 08-Jun-25 16:56:51

I don’t think it’s splitting hairs.

As I understand it she was requesting help for in school. I’m willing to be shown that she had been to her GP with concerns and had been referred to the NHS clinic by that route.

But there is a route for all children to access educational need. I don’t think leapfrogging it because the school has not yet carried out the initial assessments would be right either.

It can easily be resolved by the school carrying out its responsibilities.

LizzieDrip Sun 08-Jun-25 16:43:18

Lathyrus3

The assessment the parent is requesting is for an educational need. This should be undertaken by the school the child attends, outsourcing to a specialist if appropriate.

That’s the way it works. It’s the school that is presumably failing to meet its responsibilities, not the NHS.

Precisely.

Anyone who knows about the SEND assessment process understands this.

Presumably the DM, if they don’t understand the process, could have found out about it - it’s in the public domain.

But, of course ‘Private School Fails to Assess Child’s Special Needs’ isn’t such an enticing headline for the DM reader.

Allira Sun 08-Jun-25 16:42:04

Claremont

Lathyrus3

The assessment the parent is requesting is for an educational need. This should be undertaken by the school the child attends, outsourcing to a specialist if appropriate.

That’s the way it works. It’s the school that is presumably failing to meet its responsibilities, not the NHS.

Thank you, was just about to say this.

Thst's splitting hairs.

The assessment was due to a physical condition which the child has which affects his mobility which could affect his education.
That should comes under the umbrella of NHS services, which are free for all British citizens.

The Clinic was not an educational establishment, it was a NHS clinic to help those with physical problems cope with their every day needs.

Questions need to be asked.

Allira Sun 08-Jun-25 16:38:06

So a child with hypermobility cannot receive NHS treatment if they are educated privately?
Was the sibling educated in the State system, then? He received long-term treatment.

Claremont Sun 08-Jun-25 16:30:00

Lathyrus3

The assessment the parent is requesting is for an educational need. This should be undertaken by the school the child attends, outsourcing to a specialist if appropriate.

That’s the way it works. It’s the school that is presumably failing to meet its responsibilities, not the NHS.

Thank you, was just about to say this.

Lathyrus3 Sun 08-Jun-25 16:14:56

She needs the school to organise an assessment and to put in place a EHCP. The letter said treatment was provided for anychild with an EHCP.

I appreciate it’s frustrating but there is a route to be followed whether the child is in a state or private school.

Allira Sun 08-Jun-25 16:05:21

Excellent post M0nica

Lathyrus3 Sun 08-Jun-25 16:03:31

The assessment the parent is requesting is for an educational need. This should be undertaken by the school the child attends, outsourcing to a specialist if appropriate.

That’s the way it works. It’s the school that is presumably failing to meet its responsibilities, not the NHS.

Allira Sun 08-Jun-25 16:02:21

vegansrock

This sounds like Daily Mail stir up. Do they ask children at A and E what school they attend and chuck them out if it’s not a state one? Answer: no.

Why not check for yourself instead of dismissing it out of hand? That shows your bias.
It has been widely reported and MPs have commented.

If this child is a British citizen, he should have an NHS number and should be offered treatment without judgement. If he is from another country and it is an emergency he should be offered treatment if his country has reciprocal arrangement or if they have insurance. Some services are free to overseas visitors regardless.

I understand he is a British child.

It sounds as if someone was exceeding their authority and making decisions based on prejudice not the fact that the NHS is free for all UK citizens. The fact that this is an 8 year old child makes it more shocking.
Someone must have questions to answer.

Chardy Sun 08-Jun-25 15:51:25

Apparently the cost of the NHS expertise is paid by the local authority who fund the local schools, not the NHS itself

M0nica Sun 08-Jun-25 15:50:31

The paper shows a photo of the letter sent to the parent which quite explicitly says the child is being refused assessment because he is attending a private school.

This child and his brother both suffer from hypermobility syndrome, which in extremis leaves the person with it in a wheelchair. I have a knowledge of this problem outside anything I read in the newspapers.

While I can see why the NHS could have reasons for asking which school a child attends. I can see no reason why this should feature in any aspect of that childs treatment. The NHS is a state funded national health system (small caps) freely available to all tax and NI paying members of the population.

I find this wholesale refusal to accept anything the DM publishes on any subject quite disturbing, It is a classic far left/right way of dealing with uncomfortable facts.

If you want to know why there is such deep cynicism about the political system in this country, the complete disengagement from the democratic processes and the growing support for Reform, just look at the way both the previously major parties and their supporters look down their intellectually superior noses (as they would see it) at the opinions of ordinary people, their worries, and concerns.

It starts with the denigration of the Daily Mail and everything in it. That paper, in its partisanship is no different from that hallowed journal The Guardian, except that it is right wing and The Guardian left wing.

The best way to ensure that our next government is a Reform government and that Labour, like the Conservatives ends up, metaphorically speaking, picking up fag-ends in the gutter, is to respond the way people have to the news in the Daily Mail in anyway other than they would respond to reports on Social issues in the Guardian.

JaneJudge Sun 08-Jun-25 15:41:53

Surely private school pupils can still access physio and salt at their local CDC though

Grandmabatty Sun 08-Jun-25 15:14:24

Local authorities pay for pupils who are at their state schools accessing certain things like speech and language and occupational therapy. Private schools are not under the jurisdiction of local authority therefore pupils from private schools need to find other means. This was introduced under Tories. The same applies to tutoring. If the child goes to private school, that private school should organise tutoring, not the local authority. It is nothing to do with denial of health care by NHS. You and DM are scaremongering.

BlueBelle Sun 08-Jun-25 15:04:20

Sorry don’t believe a word of it typical Daily Mail having one sentence and running with it