The core purpose of City Hospitals Sunderland Paediatric Occupational Therapy Service is to provide a short term, high quality, needs led service to children/young people to maximise their participation and independence in daily life.
As Occupational Therapists we use a holistic approach to analyse the physical, psychological, social, and emotional barriers that impact on the child’s/young person’s ability to participate in self care, play and education.
We are a specialist short term service, who work with children/young people aged from birth to 18 years, with significant functional difficulties that affect their independence and normal development of everyday activities, who meet our access criteria.
We enable the children/young person to developed and maintain life skills through the use of graded meaningful activities, and empower parents/carers and school staff to find alternative ways of maximising the child’s/young person’s involvement in daily life.
We work with the child and family to identify the child’s/young person’s strengths and weaknesses and set meaningful goals to address their functional difficulties and help them reach their full potential.
Our team consists of four therapists; we are registered with the Health Professions Council, and abide by the codes of practise of our professional body, the British Association of Occupational Therapists.
What we offer
Assessment and diagnosis
Children/young people will be offered an initial clinic based assessment, or if deemed appropriate a home visit. The assessment will be based around the concerns highlighted in the referral and discussions with the family/child/young person. Further assessment can also be offered via a nursery/school visit if necessary.
Therapy
Therapy ranges from specialist advice linked to outcomes, to targeted blocks of therapy related to significant functional difficulties.
School visits
If the child’s/young person’s functional ability is affected within the educational setting we will provide telephone consultations with nurseries/schools. If deemed appropriate a nursery/school visit will be carried out and advice given if required.
Home visits
Home visits are carried out based on clinical judgement that this is the most appropriate environment, considering the child’s and families’ needs and circumstances.
Neurological Splinting
When appropriate children can be referred for static upper limb splinting by their City Hospitals Sunderland Neurodisability Paediatrician. The service provides assessment and if needed, a splint and regular reviews as clinically required.
Joint Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) assessment with Paediatric Physiotherapy
As part of the diagnostic process children can be referred for a joint Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy assessment by their City Hospitals Sunderland Neurodisability Paediatrician.
Integrated therapies Cygnets group
As part of the multidisciplinary team (Nursery nurse, Physiotherapy assistant, Physiotherapists, Speech and Language Therapist and Occupational Therapist) working with a group of young children with complex needs, we provide specialist assessment, support and advice and therapeutic approaches to encourage development.
Reports
Following either the assessment or assessment and therapy intervention a report summary will be provided. This will be shared with the person who referred the child/young person to the service, relevant other health professionals and with permission from the child’s carers, appropriate education or social care staff.
We will also provide Occupational Therapy advice to contribute towards an Education and Health care plan assessment, for children/young people on the existing caseload. In situations where a child is not known to the Occupational Therapy service, this child/young person can be referred if they meet the referral criteria for the Occupational Therapy service, an assessment will then be offered and report provided
Criteria for access
We currently have a single point of access. Families can discuss their concerns with their City Hospitals Sunderland Paediatricians, who can if deemed appropriate refer the child to the service electronically.
Referrals are screened/triaged by an Occupational Therapist. The purpose of the screen is to decide if it is appropriate for the child to receive an Occupational Therapy assessment from our service. If it is felt appropriate then the child is added to the waiting list and allocated to an Occupational Therapist as capacity arises.