Making a referral
Referrals to the Children’s Therapy Service
Who can refer?
Children's Therapies has an open referral policy, meaning that a child's parent / carer or any professional working with them can make a referral to one of our teams.
Professionals may include GPs, consultants, health visitors, school staff or other health and education colleagues.
Please note: if the referral is not made by the parent / carer, their consent must be gained.
How and when to refer?
All Professional referrals should be made using this Microsoft Form. Please note: you must complete all boxes to submit the referral.
Parental referrals can be made using the form above, or by calling the admin team on 01422 261 340 or 01484 344 299.
Please note that we cannot accept referrals from a parent when a professional has identified that a referral is needed. The professional must make the referral in this case to ensure that we get the level of information needed to carry out an assessment.
Questions and answers about referrals, appointments and episodes of care
What happens after I have made a referral?
The referral will be added to the appropriate waiting list. As soon as we are able to, we will contact the family by letter asking them to telephone to arrange an initial appointment. This must happen within two weeks and is called opting in.
What happens after I have opted in for my initial appointment?
Once parents/carers have contacted us to arrange an appointment, confirmation will be sent out to them by letter or text.
What happens at the first appointment?
The therapist will:
- Gather information about your concerns, and the concerns of the referrer.
- Find out what you would like to happen as a result of this episode of care.
- Gather information about the child’s developmental history.
- Carry out some brief assessment to determine the child’s level of need and the nature of the child’s difficulties.
- Provide advice, information and resources as appropriate.
- Agree the aims and next steps or for this episode of care.
Children's Therapy Service Leaflet
Must I attend my child’s first appointment?
Yes, parents/carers must be present at their child’s initial appointment. They must give consent for further advice, support or intervention to take place. Once permission has been given, the therapist can start the child’s episode of care and continue to see the child.
What if I want to change my appointment?
You should contact the admin team and let them know and we will try to re-arrange your appointment for another time.
What if I do not attend my appointment?
You must let us know if you are unable to attend your appointment, as this could then be offered to another patient. If you do not attend and do not contact us, you may be discharged from the service. If you then want to make a further appointment, you will have to make a new referral to the service.
Tell me more about what an episode of care is
Once parents have given their permission at the first appointment, the therapist can start the child’s episode of care. This means that the therapist will determine the most appropriate care plan for the child in order to meet their needs. Some children may come to the service and have only one episode of care. Other children may have several or many episodes of care during their early years and schools years.
Once the child’s episode of care has been completed the therapist will inform parents/carers and the referrer. The therapist will provide clear guidelines for when and if to re-access the service for a further episode of care.
What happens next?
Once the child’s level of need has been assessed, the therapist will either
- End the episode of care with advice and information, guidance on when and if to re-access the service.
or
- Discuss the most appropriate therapy plan, which may involve transferring the child’s care to the most appropriate therapist in the team. For example, to the therapist who works in your child’s school.