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Accessing our service

Our service is available for children and young people from 0 – 18 years and up to 25 years for those with an Education and Health Care Plan (EHCP).
 
A Child or Young Person (CYP) must have a Barnet home address or Barnet GP.  For dysphagia referrals CYP must have Barnet GP.
 
We work with interpreters as required for children and their families.
 
If your child/young person does not meet our referral criteria they are still able to access our universal services which includes support via our website resources, training courses, drop in sessions at children’s centres and virtual advice lines.  No referral is needed and this support can be accessed by anyone supporting the child or young person.

Referring to Speech and Language Therapy (SLT)

Information for Parents

My child is pre school age
Either you, your nursery, GP or Health Visitor can refer by completing the early years screener form and sending it with the referral form
 
My child is school age
Speak to the school SENCo about your concerns.  They are able to refer a child or Young Person to our service.
 
Information for Schools
 
I am a school SENCo 

For primary school children
Please complete the below screening form and attach to the referral form
 
For secondary school children
Please complete the secondary screener form and attach to the referral form

Referring to the Dysphagia SLT Team

The Complex Needs and Dysphagia service sees children and babies with eating and drinking/feeding difficulties which are anatomical, physiological, developmental or neurological in nature.  Any infant/child with known or suspected risk of aspiration / choking / pharyngeal stage difficulties when eating, drinking or swallowing will be seen by our team.
 
Our main aim is to ensure that the child is eating or drinking as safely as possible. Please refer to our service if the child:
 
  • Coughs/chokes during eating/drinking; not after
  • Has watery eyes during feeding
  • Develops noisy or wet-breathing sounds during feeding
  • Struggles to breathe during feeding
  • Has a change in colour when eating/drinking
  • Loses more food/drink from their mouth than expected
  • Ongoing chest infections (not due to a virus)
 
Please note that the child needs to be registered with a Barnet GP
 

We are unable to see children whose difficulties are primarily behavioural or sensory in nature (please see the Universal training menu for online presentations/training), or if the difficulties are vomiting/retching or gastro-oesophageal reflux.
 
 
Eating difficulties and avoidant restrictive food intake disorders (ARFID) - Tavistock and Portman
 

For general breastfeeding support please email the breastfeeding support team at hcp4b.bfsupportteam@nhs.net
 
For general support around weaning please contact your Health Visitor.

Referring to Occupational Therapy

We will only accept referrals to the Occupational Therapy team if there are two functional needs. For example, difficulties using scissors, using a knife and fork to eat, doing up shoe laces.
 
Child is pre school
Please complete the pre-school parent questionnaire and attach to the referral form
 
Child is school aged
Please complete the school aged parent questionnaire and attach to the referral form
 
If your child has Sensory Processing Difficulties, please complete the sensory screener form and attach to the referral form.
 
Home equipment and adaptations
 
This equipment is used to help children and young people participate in family life and remain safe at home.  This includes personal hygiene equipment such as specialist bath seats, hoists and slings and adaptations to the home.
 
To access this service, please make a Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) team referral outlining the reason for making the referral (home equipment/adaptations).

The referral can be made through the MASH website using the following link Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) Team (Children's) | Barnet Council
 
MASH contact information
MASH email:  mash@barnet.gov.uk
MASH contact number: 020 8359 406

Referring to Physiotherapy

Child is pre school
Please complete the pre-school parent questionnaire and attach to the referral form
 
Child is school aged
Please complete the school aged parent questionnaire and attach to the referral form

Further information

Please click here for further advice and support for parents
 
Please click here for further advice and support for professionals
Last updated09 Dec 2024
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