GP misunderstanding - TAF referral

[Gertrudal]

I called the GP today about my DS. He is struggling with low mood, anxiety and potential SEN. I asked for a SEN assessment and was told this needed to be done through school. They agreed to refer us to CAMHS.
They also said she would like to refer us to Team Around Family. She didn’t explain what it was really just that it was voluntary. After the call I rang the TAF number and they explained it was to offer early intervention/ parenting support. I explained my call with the GP and they said it didn’t sound like we’d need their services (because the SEN needs to he dealt with by the school and the mental health by CAMHS). And that sometime next week there would be a panel meeting and they would call me if we met their threshold (dependent on what the GP actually said in their form) to arrange a more formal meeting.
I am obviously now really stressed by what the GP could have said/ the impression I gave. There was a bit of an understanding barrier. Ie. She asked some of the challenges my son faced and I explained I have to break tasks down into smaller tasks, like I couldn’t just ask him to go to bed as one instruction. And she said “you don’t ask him to go to bed?”. And then on top of that I have on my own health record a history of PTSD/ anxiety/ depression. She didn’t ask about those things at all. But I assume she could see it and she could include it in the TAF referral? All of those things are historic and are no longer affecting me (they never did affect DS).

I really wouldn’t worry. I have children with additional needs and we have regular TAF meetings. It’s a good way of getting everyone in one place to work out the best support needed. It’s not about judging you or your parenting.

Hi Op,

hoping I can put your mind at ease. I’m a secondary school assistant headteacher who oversees safeguarding and pastoral support.

With regards to your sons SEND the school should advise you what they observe. For example what SEND do they suspect? The school and the GP can both refer to CAMHS but let’s say for example your child has barriers to learning that are cognitive, that’s not a job for CAHMS, the school can identify these and put in support ie if the problem was with comprehension, reading support etc. Whereas ADHD/ASD would be as formal diagnosis can only come from them not from school. There seems to be a battle at the moment between schools and GP about CAMHS referrals but to be clear BOTH can refer to CAMHS and if they tell you otherwise they are fobbing you off.

With regards to TAF meeting this is also called Early Help. It is nothing to worry about. Essentially if a family looks like they could do with a bit of support then they can help. They could for example help you with strategies to manage your child’s behaviour if this is an issue, sign post to other useful groups, resources etc. At a TAF meeting agencies involved with your child normally you, school and any other services come together to discuss how things are going. It’s supposed to be a supportive process, it is not social services or meant to point fingers. As GP said it is voluntary so if you decide you don’t find it useful you don’t have to take part in it. In my experience it can be useful for some and not for others, like all services I have found some of the workers to be fantastic and some not so much.

the TAF referral is supposed to be done with you though, for full transparency about what is being said. There will also be questions on there that the GP can’t answer without your input, were you asked to be involved in the process?

@Sammie1990 thank you for your really helpful reply.

I asked the GP what TAF was when she mentioned it and all she said was it was voluntary. She didn’t explain it at all. She asked a few questions (was I still with my child’s dad (I am), do I have other children (yes), and do they display the same behaviours (no) which I assume were for the referral.
DS is suspected (by us as parents) as having ASD or ADD. (My husband works with children with SEN as his profession so this isn’t just a case of Googling). The school doesn’t necessarily see it. However, DS is often crying in school because he feels overwhelmed and this is we suspect why. DS is also quiet and well behaved so I feel like he blends into the background at school. He is in a year 6 class with some children who are quite a handful which doesn’t help with this). The GP has referred to CAMHS for mental health but said the SEN assessment needs to come from the school.

DS does not have poor behaviour or behaviour we need help with. We have learnt what works for him - this is mostly routine and having tasks broken down into smaller tasks.

Would the GP be able to talk about my PTSD for example on the referral form? This is not something I disclosed to her when discussing DS but would be on my health record. I have noticed it as a flag on my record when I have been to the GP. This is from a previous abusive relationship where I was repeatedly raped. I haven’t disclosed this to my family and is from 15 years ago. I really do not want this information to be shared with anyone.

There may be some geographical differences. We (a school) could call a TAF meeting and Early Help would be one of the teams involved. Again though, not something to worry about, usually a good way of getting everyone on the same page and getting some clear action.

It doesn’t sound like you’d be anywhere close to the threshold for a TAF in my area though. I would get back in touch with the GP, it sounds more like your child needs a thorough assessment by CAMHs first.

Thanks @skelter83. In your area is TAF social services or something else? From the website I can’t really tell what it is. If they can help DS then of course I will accept any support offered. But I do think CAMHS is probably best placed to support.

Hi,
No the GP should not disclose this information. If they felt it was relevant then it should be shared only with your consent. The exception to this is if they feel a child will come to ‘serious harm’ if the information is not shared. In your case this is not the case and if a GP felt a child was at this risk it would be a referral straight through to social services. The whole referral should have been done with you, we call parents in for a meeting to complete it with them. It’s bad practice from your GP, I would request a copy of the referral, you are within your rights to see it.

you are in a tricky spot with the CAMHS referral. If school do not see these issues present in school what would they put in their referral? I don’t mean that to sound like he isn’t having issues in school what I mean is the school are unlikely to press for something they don’t think exists. This is where having a TAF/early help worker could be useful as I THINK ( I’ll double check and come back to you) that they would be able to submit a referral. The GP can also do it but it may be that you need to explain to them why school isn’t in the position to do so.

@Gertrudal I don’t think you need to worry about your past medical history being disclosed. It does seem though as though a TAF would be superfluous in your case - perhaps the GP just meant a referral to ‘early help’.
Early help are one of the teams currently involved in our TAF meetings - they have been able to sign post us to support we otherwise might not have known about. They also arranged for me to have a Carers Assessment.
When DS3 was in reception (he’s Y6 now) we were referred to early help (and had TAFs) which I felt wasn’t necessary and I felt like they were saying there was an issue with my parenting. We did get asked to go on a parenting course which was informative and interesting but not really helpful. What was helpful was early help referred us into CAMHS and this seemed to have greater weight on whether or not we were put onto the waiting list for assessment. Many areas are tightening up on assessments due to the increased demand so having the backing of early help was beneficial.

OP rest assured, this isn’t what you think. It’s about your child and how everyone can help your child. It used to be called a TAC meeting- Team around the child. When I first heard it, I was like ‘what on earth is this and who does it involve’. That was many years ago because my child was struggling academically and it was an opportunity to bring all the professionals together and to put a plan in place to try and help DC.

Absolutely nothing to do with social services at all. It was the SENCO, OC and Ed PSych. This was years ago but we’re still dealing with school as DC still has SEN only more significantly now. Social services have never been involved.

Dony worry OP!!

These services aren't out to get you. They're there for support. If you don't meet the criteria, end of story. If you do, they will be able to support you and your family with your struggles. It's not a bad thing.

Also the GP wouldn't have had your records while speaking to you re your Son.

Just to add - having read the other replies, I also had an older DC who was exceeding academically, socially, emotionally etc so it was a surprise when their sibling didn’t follow suit and struggled so much. They had the same teachers so I knew they wouldn’t be questioning my parenting abilities because they all knew older DC.

It was obvious there was SEN but if I didn’t have older DC I wouldn’t have been so confident, which is a shame, but it gave me a benchmark of normal (albeit at the higher level) I knew there was something not right.

It made realise that all children are different and what works for one doesn’t necessarily work for the next.

Just cancel the TAF if you feel it’s not needed. It’s voluntary.

Thank you all. I think my main worries are things the GP seemed to misunderstand on the call. Ie, her repeatedly stating I don’t tell my children to go to bed or left to their own devices they wouldn’t get up in the morning. What I meant was that with DS he is easily distracted and so I have to provide step by step prompts. Telling him to get up (or go to bed) as one instruction wouldn’t work for him. If this has gone into the referral form (which I suspect it will because of her repeating the assumption even though I had tried to correct it on multiple occasions), how easy will it be to put right? Or will the TAF team just believe the form (because it came from the GP)? One quick chat with the DC would show we have quite strict bedtimes (because DC1 thrives on routine).

I think that can easily be rectified - if it comes up just explain you were giving an example of how you need to break down instructions into smaller chunks as DS gets distracted.
You’ll probably find you get asked about bedtime routine a lot as while your DS may have a good sleep routine many children don’t and this can compound issues.
One of things that came up in our first early help/TAF referral was that my DS was always hungry at school - we had a home visit where they literally checked the kitchen cupboards. They also checked he had a bed to sleep on. It’s easy to get worked up/insulted by these things but in the end I thought it’s quite good that they check as although I know he’s well fed and lives in a comfortable clean house, they don’t know that and there are children out there that don’t have these things.

I'd call the GP and get a copy of the referral so at least you're clear on what has been written.

I will ask for the referral form. I have also found an email address for the TAF team for my LA. I’m thinking of sending an email on Tuesday morning to explain the difficulties DS faces and ask what support they could offer. At least then I could explain our situation without it going through a third party who seemed to struggle with what I was saying. I’m not sure if that is a good idea (I know I’m a control freak at times) or better to wait until they contact me?

Hi
it’s fine to contact them, people do self refer to the service also so they will be used to the sort of call. You might be better waiting to get an allocated worker before you go into loads of detail as obviously they will be more invested :)