Child Development Service

Children and young people with health and developmental needs including physical disability, learning disability, social communication disorders (autism) and other long term developmental conditions aged up to their 16th birthday, at the time of referral.

Referrals are accepted from your GP, other doctors (e.g. hospital doctor), Health Visitor, School Nurse or Speech and Language Therapist.

We can only accept referrals completed by professionals and cannot accept referrals made by parent/carers.

The first appointment is usually with a doctor and referrals to other members of the multidisciplinary team will be made accordingly, specific to the child or young person’s individual identified needs.

CDS Referral Form (docx, 650 KB)

We aim to:

• Assess children and provide comprehensive management and holistic care for children with Neurodisability
• Be accessible for all who need it
• To provide timely intervention
• To provide early intervention
• To coordinate care
• To provide care closer to home wherever possible
• To provide goal orientated care
• To advocate for lifelong care
• To engage in collaborative working with other services
• To develop strong working relationships with other services
• To be child and family orientated

Hopefully you have navigated public transport or found a parking spot at St Luke’s – please allow plenty of time for this! Find our friendly team in area 4 of the Horton Wing. Let reception know you’ve arrived and take a seat in the waiting area. There are some toys and activities available but the waiting room can be busy so consider bringing noise cancelling headphones if your child struggles in loud environments. If your child is becoming overwhelmed in the waiting room, let the clinic assistants know.

Your child’s name will be called out and we’ll show you which clinic room to go to. Most of our rooms are big with toys and play areas. A doctor will speak to the parent or carer. A child development centre assistant will usually be present; they are very good at engaging children in play and feeding back on their skills. There may be other people in the room, including members of the team like physiotherapists, dieticians, social workers, junior doctors, or students. It is useful to have multiple professionals at the appointment. Students thoroughly benefit from clinics but you can choose whether they stay for your child’s appointment or not.

Children are weighed and measured during appointments. We have all the equipment for this including baby scales, hoists, and length measurement tape. We appreciate parents’ help in undressing children – usually taking off shoes and bulky clothing for children or undressing down to the nappy for babies.

Let your child know that they will usually be examined by the doctor during their appointment, especially if they are anxious about new experiences. The paediatrician (children’s doctor) will then make a plan, including an idea of when how soon they will see you again. If blood tests are advised, you will need to take a seat in the waiting room before being brought in by our specialist team. Sometimes we will refer you to other departments.

A few weeks after your appointment, you will typically receive a clinic letter describing what was discussed. You can contact our team via the secretaries if you have any questions. Your first appointment can take up to an hour but follow up appointments are usually shorter. Most of our patients are followed up for several years. Children are discharged when their needs can be managed in other settings. Before discharge, we would signpost you to relevant local resources.

Your child has been referred to the child development centre because a healthcare professional thinks your family would benefit from seeing a community paediatrician. Your child’s care will be led by a consultant paediatrician, who will consider diagnosis, investigations and management. Other teams may also be involved, you can read about each role on the “who we are” page.

During your appointment, you will see a paediatrician (children’s doctor). There will usually be a child development centre assistant. They are not only great at making children feel comfortable in a new environment but also give useful feedback about children’s skills. There might be other people in the room, such as physiotherapists or dieticians. You can choose if you are happy for students to stay.

We now run needle phobia drop-in sessions twice a month. Please check for dates on the notice by the reception desk or telephone 01270 365085 to check dates (updated monthly). These are run by our play leaders. They will provide and use the VR goggles along with fun activities to help children to understand the procedure. They will also help with different ways of coping when having a blood test.