A FAILING children’s clinic that lost vital paper work and mixed up medical records told a watchdog that expectations of its services were  'unrealistic'.

Woodview Children’s Centre in Widnes has been issued with a Contract Performance Notice and resultant Action Plan after an investigation by Healthwatch Halton revealed major concerns.

However, staff at the centre initially defended criticism by saying that parents expected too much of the service – despite the majority of complaints being over basic administration and communication errors.

A report on the failings by Healthwatch Halton reveals the most common gripes were that calls were repeatedly unanswered, messages were not returned, parents were not told how long they would have to wait for an appointment or when their next appointment would be, and that parents were often given incorrect information, including on how to raise a complaint.

Other parents complained about lost referrals paper work, mixed up medical records, delayed appointments, a lack of information or support and lengthy appointment waiting times.

An online survey filled out by 81 parents also found that when people were asked to name three good things about the service, the most common answer was 'nothing'.

One parent’s feedback said: “Diagnosed with sensory difficulties and anxiety but no info on what we should do… left us still struggling to maintain any sort of normal life with nowhere to turn because Woodview won’t return our calls.”

The report acknowledged that staff shortages were a problem, with one in five children forced to wait a year from referral until  their first appointment.

However it said that pressure on services would be eased if 'basics are done right' and called for a 'major re-think' of the way the service is delivered.

The report said: “We have been told by staff at Woodview that parents sometimes have too high an expectation of what the service is able to do.

“Parent’s expectations may be high, but this could be in part be because they aren’t being told early enough what the service can and can’t do.

“Information on the service and what the processes are, and what to expect, should be given to parents at their first contact with the service.

“At present, with the long waiting times between referral and first appointments it seems that parents are left in a void with apparently little to no contact from the service.”

It added: “If the basics are done right consistently then it will relieve pressures on the service and the parents.”

The Woodview Centre provides  a number of  services for children  including speech and language, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and child development assessments for special needs.

The majority of the services are provided by the Bridgewater Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.

A spokesperson from the trust said they welcomed the report and would take the findings 'very seriously'.

They said: “Bridgewater aims to provide the highest quality care in the communities we serve and we are deeply concerned by the experiences that some families have received when using our services at Woodview Child Development Centre (Woodview CDC). We sincerely regret the frustration and upset this may have caused.

“The trust’s senior leadership team has already started working with staff and families to put together a robust action plan to address the issues raised by both this report and individual complaints. We will also be carrying out a full internal investigation.

“We have already reviewed the records of every child on the caseload at Woodview CDC to ensure they are receiving the most appropriate care and we are in the process of contacting parents and carers about the results of this individually.

“In addition, we have improved administrative processes so families are able to communicate with services more effectively and earlier this year we introduced text reminders for patient appointments.”