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Community Paediatric Service - Worcestershire
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We provide assessment, diagnosis and support to children and young people with developmental delays, neurodevelopmental conditions (such as Autism and ADHD) and complex disabilities.
- Service hours: Monday to Friday, 9:00am - 4:00pm
- About the service
- Waiting times
- How to access the service
- Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
- Support and advice
About the service
We work closely with children young people and families, also teams and professionals from education settings and social care to ensure that a child is looked after in a joined-up way in every environment they experience. This means that we are very aware of the problems or difficulties children may have in school and/or at home and we can work together to ensure the child’s needs are met.
We offer clinical assessments for children and young people who experience:
- Development delay or disorder in more than one domain
- ADHD
- Social and communication difficulties in pre-school children
- Motor difficulties with neurological anomalies
- Regression of development with loss of skills
- Assessment of complex behaviours which have a severe impact on functioning
- Sensory impairment, including aetiology of sensori-neural hearing loss
- Management and overview of complex long-term health conditions requiring ongoing medical management by a Community Paediatrician
We also have:
- Statutory responsibilities for Special Educational Needs assessments (EHCP)
- Statutory responsibilities for Child Protection, Looked after Children and adoption — Children in Care Team (Previously known as Looked After Children Team)
- Responsibility to participate in specialist pathways including e.g. WMSAS/Umbrella/SUDIC
We have a statutory (legal) duty to tell the local education authority about any preschool children who are likely to need extra help in school. To do this we send a referral form to the Local Education Authority which is then discussed in a meeting called the Preschool Forum. In this meeting children with extra needs are discussed and appropriate help is allocated.
More information about this can be found in the Worcestershire Local Offer. We always ask for parents’ or guardians’ permission before this referral is completed and for this discussion to take place.
Our team
Our doctors and advanced practitioners have a lot of experience in a wide range of conditions and are highly skilled in doing assessments to understand why children and young people experience difficulties or have delays in their development. They also have the expertise to manage complex diagnosis and disabilities.
Our doctors and advanced practitioners have close links with doctors in general practice and in hospitals. They refer to and liaise with a wide variety of health professionals with specialist expertise , including Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, Speech and Language Therapy, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services and where needed Community Children’s Nursing and Palliative Care Teams.
We work with other agencies to support vulnerable children such as those in care or going through the adoption process. We also provide medical advice to education for children with special educational needs.
Waiting times
The service is currently experiencing unprecedented demand and as a result, there is a significant waiting list for assessment and support.
At triage, cases will be risk assessed and clinically prioritised due to the urgency of their need. Please be assured that the team are doing all they can to reduce waiting times.
How to access the service
We do not accept referrals directly from patients or their families. Professionals, like doctors and therapists can refer you to our service. Other professionals who can refer you to our team may include:
- GPs
- School nurses
- Health visitors
- Social workers
- School staff
- Children’s doctors (paediatricians)
- Therapists
Referrals must be made using the service referral form.
Please email all referrals to the Community Paediatrics Team.
Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
FAQs
If you have any questions or queries, please consult our frequently asked questions (FAQs) which include guidance on matters relating to referrals, appointments, the service, how to contact us and how to provide feedback. View FAQs.
Useful resources
On our useful resources page, you will find links and contact information for organisations we work with who provide a range of different services to young people and their families, including support with wellbeing, disability, behaviour, sleep, speech and language and mental health. View our useful resources page.
Support and advice
If you or someone you know needs support or information, you can look at the advice section on our website. You can also talk to the team who is supporting you.