Virtual Psychological Advice
As part of the Surrey County Council strategy to ensure responsive and statutorily compliant Education Health and Care needs assessments (EHCNAs), we are now including, more widely, virtual psychological assessments. Some of these assessments will be provided by commissioned agencies from whom we have procured additional Educational Psychologist (EP) capacity to enhance capacity and reduce wait times.
When a named EP has been identified to provide psychological advice, they will contact the setting in the first instance and will explain the nature of the assessment and if it will be conducted virtually.
A virtual assessment is fully Code of Practice compliant, and a full range of evidence will be drawn on.
In general, the following points should be noted:
- A virtual observation or interview may be conducted at the child's setting. If this is the case professional standards will be upheld. They will be fully General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) compliant, no information will be stored on the child, observations should be conducted in a confidential / safe environment. EPs are fully bound by Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) and British Psychological Society (BPS) codes of ethical practice and are informed by professional guidance on conducting assessments in person and virtually. High professional standards will always be upheld.
- Where an in-setting virtual observation is not possible a virtual observation in the home might be arranged. We would encourage settings to facilitate a virtual observation whenever possible.
- A consultation will be held with parents and settings with persons that know the child well.
- Videos, photos, work samples and other evidence of can be exchanged in a safe and secure way and this is an effective way to share information in line with an existing system that the EP can easily and securely access.
- In the case of early years children, the vast majority of Early Years (EY) assessments have had observations conducted by other professionals, usually the EY advisory team. Their report can inform an EPs piece of work and often the EP will engage with this team to talk about the presentation of a child in a setting.
- All EP advice is quality assured to ensure that high standards are met, and that appropriate to inform an EHC assessment / plan is provided.
- Finally, if there are still concerns, about any aspects of the EHC assessment, these should be discussed in the first instance with the EP conducting.
If you have any additional questions, please contact the Area Senior Educational Psychologist.