Occupational therapy for children

Our children's and young people's occupational therapy teams caters for children aged from 0 to 19 years who have a wide range of disabilities, disorders and delays including:

• physical disability
• sensory needs
• profound and complex learning disabilities
• motor coordination difficulties

Our children and young people's occupational therapy teams help children achieve their optimum developmental, physical, social and emotional potential to maximise their independence and quality of life. We support families with children with long term conditions and schools through provision of training to parents and schools to increase awareness and understanding.

We allocate individual therapists to special schools who build relationships between our therapists and help to really make a difference.

We also provide a splinting service which includes assessment, fabrication, provision and review of splints for hands and some upper limb involvement to improve or support functional outcomes.

We also offer training to Early Years Providers such as nursery, children centre staff and parents.

Please note that our children's occupational therapy service does not provide equipment for daily living.

We offer intervention to children on a one to one basis or in a group setting, depending on what is appropriate. Our children's and young person's occupational therapy teams work in children's homes, health centres, nurseries and schools across Barnet, Hammersmith and Fulham, Kensington and Chelsea, and Westminster.

All children referred will have a full assessment and advice will be provided as appropriate. Intervention packages are then decided according to individual needs and children may also be seen within other speciality clinics were appropriate.

Occupational therapy is involved with groups which promote health and child development, for example school readiness skills such pre-writing, hand skills for play and learning and everyday living skills. 

Our children's occupational therapy teams work closely with:

• child health specialists
• Child Development Service (CDS)
• local authority educational and social services
• health visiting
• schools nursing
• physiotherapy
• speech and language therapy
• music therapy
• pediatricians
• mainstream and special schools/nursery staff
• educational and clinical psychology
• early year's services

In the Barnet locality, we work closely with London Borough of Barnet Children's Service Occupational Therapists to address issues of equipment and adaptations within children's homes.

Our children's and young person's occupational therapy teams include the following specialist roles:

• Specialist children's occupational therapists
• Occupational therapy assistants

Our children's and young person's occupational health teams operate an open referral system allowing referrals from paediatricians, GPs, health visitors, school nurses, other healthcare professionals, educational staff, and other professionals involved in a child's care. Parents and carers can also refer children to our service.

When to consider a referral to occupational therapy:

• When your/a child is presenting with a delay in his/her fine motor, pre writing or self care skills.  (self care skills refers to activities such as dressing, washing, feeding, toileting).
• When your/ a child is presenting with concerns in relation to school readiness.

All Barnet referrals should be made on our child development service referral form.

All inner London borough referrals should be made using our children's and young people's occupational therapy referral form.

We work closely with a range of agencies from health, education and social care to help work in partnership with you to support your child to do more of what they need and want to do.

Please follow this link to find out more about how occupational therapists work in general with children.

Please follow this link to find out more about your local occupational therapy service in north Kensington and Chelsea.

Please follow this link to find your nearest children's centre in Kensington and Chelsea

Other websites

Therapy fun zone is a website set up by an occupational therapist to share activity ideas, and encourage you to share yours in order to keep the creativity stimulated if you are helping your child to develop their skills.

OT Plan is an activity idea search engine for paediatricoccupational therapy activities.

ERIC is a site to improve the quality of life of children, young people and their families in theUK who suffer from the consequences of wetting and soiling difficulties, to help them manage or overcome these problems.

www.CanChild.ca is a research and educational centre in Canada.  Their research is focused on improving the lives of children and youth with disabilities and their families.

The occupational therapy service is available to all parents and carers for advice and can be contacted through your health visitor or children's centre.

Inclusions
Referrals can be made for children with the following presentations, for whom there are clear functional issues regarding fine or gross motor skills affecting activities of daily living such as dressing washing eating and writing. This can include children with underlying diagnosis or likely diagnosis of the following:

• neurological conditions such as cerebral palsy, spina bifida, head injury,
• neurological muscular conditions such as muscular dystrophy, spinal muscular atrophy, neuropathy
• pervasive developmental disorders including autism and aspergers
• developmental delay (general and specific) including syndromes.
• motor co-ordination difficulties
• orthopaedic/rheumatologic conditions such as chronic arthritis, charcot marie tooth disorder and erb's palsy,

Children must be living, or registered with a GP, in the boroughs of Barnet, Hammersmith and Fulham, Kensington and Chelsea, and Westminster to access the services in that borough. We also look after children who are schooled in Hammersmith and Fulham, and Westminster.

Exclusions 
We do not see children with the following conditions:

• Sensory integration therapy programme alone
• Behavioural issues with no functional concerns
• Home equipment/adaptation only (Barnet only)

All referrals should be made using the service referral form or via letter with the following details:

• patient name, address, contact details/carers contact details, date of birth, NHS number
• functional/motor skills issues
• relevant medical details including significant past problems
• reason for referral
• current relevant medication
• relevant social background
• any safeguarding issues that should be known
• parental consent
• Referrer name, organisation, address, contact details

• Any interventions currently on-going for the child or other services involved

The occupational therapy service is available to all parents and carers for advice and can be contacted through your health visitor or children's centre.

Barnet children and young person's occupational therapy service
P: 020 8349 7000

Write to us at:
Barnet children and young person's occupational therapy service
Oak Lane Clinic
Oak Lane
London
N2 8LT

Please refer using the child development service referral form for Barnet. 

All referrals are discussed at the weekly multi agency referrals' meeting that is held to co-ordinate services and referrals across health and social care systems.

Barnet home equipment referrals
Referrals for home equipment or adaptation in Barnet should be made to Barnet children's service occupational therapy team at North London Business Park.

Write to us at:
Barnet children's service occupational therapy
Building 4
North London Business Park
Oakleigh Road South
N11 1NP

Inner London children's and young people's occupational therapy service

P: 020 3311 1641
F: 020 3311 1322
E: haf-pct.ChildrensOT@nhs.net 

Write to us at:
Inner London children and young people's occupational therapy service
St Dunstans Clinic
St Dunstans Road
W6 8RB

Please refer using the children's and young people's occupational therapy referral form for inner London.

This information is being confirmed by our service teams shortly. Please contact your local service manager for more information.

The core hours of our occupational therapy for children service are: 

Monday: 09.00 - 17.00
Tuesday: 09.00 - 17.00
Wednesday: 09.00 - 17.00
Thursday: 09.00 - 17.00
Friday: 09.00 - 17.00
Saturday: Closed
Sunday: Closed

Bank holidays - Closed

Children are discharged from the children and young people's occupational therapy service when:

• There is no further indication for treatment
• Further intervention will not affect change
• Functional goals are met
• No further progress of skills
• Non-compliance (with notifications sent)
• When problems have resolve
• Advice has been given and there is no further indication for intervention
• Advice needs to be followed without the need for on-going follow up
• It is felt that there is no further improvement
• Young people move from children's services into adult services
• Child moves out of borough
• If you do not contact us to cancel a booked appointment

Clinical referrers can contact our borough based service managers with any queries they have about our children's and young people's occupational therapy services.

Nikki Bennett
Lead for Children's Physical Therapies
Barnet
P: 020 8349 7084
M: 079 7457 8497 
E: nikki.bennett@barnet.nhs.uk

Sheena Lorusso
Team Lead Children and Young People's Occupational Therapy
Hammersmith and Fulham, Kensington and Chelsea, and Westminster
M: 079 5846 7884
F: 020 8846 7880
E: sheena.lorusso@clch.nhs.uk
E: sheena.lorusso@nhs.net