Caudwell International Childrens Centre

Updated 25 February 2020

Caudwell International Children’s Centre is the base for the Caudwell Children charity and its accompanying diagnostic service. The charity provides specialist direct family support, equipment, treatment and therapy. Only the diagnostic service falls within the Care Quality Commission’s regulatory remit.

The Caudwell International Children's Centre was the UK’s first independent purpose-built centre, dedicated to multidisciplinary assessment, support and research of childhood disabilities and neurodevelopmental conditions, including autism.

Based in Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire in the grounds of Keele University, the diagnostic service provided a multidisciplinary evidence based approach to autism practice and research, whilst continuing to benefit from links with the charitable services. There was a specific focus on providing assessment, intervention and research programmes for children with neurodevelopmental conditions, specifically, Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

At the time of the inspection, the service was not commissioned by any local authority or clinical commissioning groups. Families were referred into the service via a health, education or social care professional and were either privately funded or received funding via the charity.

This report refers only to the diagnostic service thereupon “the service”. The service was registered with the Care Quality Commission in August 2018 to deliver the following regulated activities.

• Diagnostic and screening procedures
• Treatment of disease, disorder or injury

At the time of the inspection the service had a registered manager in place.

This was the first inspection of the service.

Updated 25 February 2020

We rated Caudwell International Children’s Centre as good because:

• The service provided safe care. Premises where children and young people were seen were safe and clean. The number of children and young people on the caseload of the teams, and of individual members of staff, was not too high to prevent staff from giving each patient the time they needed. Staff managed waiting lists well. Staff assessed and managed risk well and followed good practice with respect to safeguarding.
• Staff developed holistic, recovery-oriented care plans informed by a comprehensive assessment and in collaboration with families and carers. They provided a range of treatments that were informed by best-practice guidance and suitable to the needs of the children and young people.
• The teams included or had access to the full range of specialists required to meet the needs of the children and young people. Managers ensured that these staff received training, supervision and appraisal. Staff worked well together as a multidisciplinary team and with relevant services outside the organisation.
• Staff understood the principles underpinning capacity, competence and consent as they apply to children and young people and managed and recorded decisions relating to these well.
• Staff treated children and young people with compassion and kindness, respected their privacy and dignity, and understood the individual needs of children and young people. They actively involved children and young people and families and carers in care decisions.
• The service was easy to access. Staff assessed and treated children and young people who required urgent care promptly and those who did not require urgent care did not wait too long to start treatment. The criteria for referral to the service did not exclude children and young people who would have benefitted from care.
• The service’s facilities and premises were innovative and met the needs of a range of people who used the service. The building was purpose-built with autistic people in mind.
• The service was well led, and the governance processes ensured that procedures relating to the work of the service ran smoothly.

Updated 25 February 2020