Children's community physiotherapy

What is the Local Offer?

The local offer provides information for children and young people with special educational needs (SEND) and their parents or carers in a single place. You can find out more about information about this on our SEND reforms and Local Offers page.

Service Description

The children’s community physiotherapy team provides physiotherapy assessment, advice, treatment and rehabilitation for children aged 0 to 19 years if in full time education depending on the child/young person's condition. For musculoskeletal conditions the age limit is 16 years. Children’s Physiotherapists have a specific interest and expertise in working with children and young people who present with a wide range of conditions. The Physiotherapists work in a variety of different settings such as homes, clinics, Child Development Centres and schools (mainstream and special). All therapists treat children with a variety of conditions, while some have additional specific areas of expertise such as respiratory, neurology or musculoskeletal.

We work in partnership with families, carers and other agencies.

The service is managed through the following teams, listed below.

Early Years

This service is provided for Babies and Young Children age 0 – 4 years. Following assessment; physiotherapy management may involve advice and discharge, the provision of movement programmes, teaching parents handling and therapeutic techniques, recommendations for equipment, referral to and liaison with other agencies. These patients are seen at home, clinic, mainstream nurseries and schools and Special School Assessment Nurseries.

This team also provide input, as required, into the Multidisciplinary Assessment within the Child Development Centre based at Monkmoor and Stepping Stones Centres.

Community and Transition

This service is provided for Children and Young People age 5 – 16 years (19 years if attending full time education, depending on the child/young person's condition). This group of children and young people may be seen in special schools, mainstream schools, clinics and home. The service also delivers a Comprehensive Training Package to the Education Staff, which includes: how the physical aspects of the diagnosis and prognosis impacts on posture, gross motor skills, function, access to the curriculum, therapeutic handling, use of equipment, activity programmes and competency training. Regular contact is maintained with families and carers to keep them updated on their child’s progress and involved with physiotherapy intervention.

Transition into Adult Services

For those young people who require on-going physiotherapy management we participate in the transition process to Adult Physiotherapy Services and other teams, e.g. Community Neuro Rehab Team.

Musculoskeletal (MSK)

This service is provided for children and young people aged 1 – 16 years who have a wide variety of acute and chronic musculoskeletal conditions. Referrals are received from Orthopaedic Consultants, GP’s, and Accident and Emergency Fracture Clinics. Patients are assessed, provided with treatment programmes and prophylactic advice or advice and discharge. They are seen in local clinics which are held in Ludlow, Bridgnorth, Shrewsbury, Newport, Market Drayton and Telford.

What do you provide to children and young people with an additional need and or disability 0-25yrs?

We provide:

• A client centred Physiotherapy service to children and young people up to the age of 19 years of age with a physical, neurological, neuromuscular, or developmental impairment
• For musculoskeletal conditions the age limit is 16 years
• An intervention that maximises the individual functional potential of each child and young person within their capabilities
• Therapy intervention that works in partnership with the child, parent, family and carers, professionals and voluntary organisations
• A service which is accessible and relevant and in the most appropriate community setting for the child and their family providing care closer to home, nursery, clinic, school
• For children and young people to be comfortable in specialist equipment and for parents and carers to be confident and competent to use this equipment following training from the physiotherapist
• For parents and carers to be competent following training in therapeutic handling techniques
• Regular evaluation of the quality and effectiveness of the service through processes of user feedback, and outcome measures
• Deliver a seamless pathway from child to adult services or an alternative service.

The amount, frequency and type of therapy assessment and intervention is based on each child’s strengths, difficulties and needs. The need for ongoing intervention is regularly reviewed with the parents, child or young person.

Who can use our service? Age? Disability?

The service is accessible to all children/ young people registered to a GP in either Shropshire or Telford and Wrekin referred to the service. Age range is from 0 – 16 for musculoskeletal conditions, or 0 to 19 if in full time education for other conditions. The service is offered to all children and young people regardless of ethnic, cultural, spiritual, gender and disability backgrounds.

How to access our service (inc. referral routes)

Referrals are received by the Clinical Leaders and will be accepted from Consultants, GPs, and other medical professionals. Once received the referrals are triaged according to clinical priority.

Referrals are received in writing either on the Children’s Community Physiotherapy referral form, by letter outlining the child/young person's difficulties or via an external organisation's own referral form. This can be posted or emailed to the team.

Referrals should be sent to:

• Chris Hodnett, Team Leader
• Stepping Stones Centre
  Brunel Road
  Malinslee
  Telford TF3 2BF
  Tel: 01952 567300
• Or Email: Shropcom.Childtherapyreferrals@nhs.net
  
  

Following receipt of a referral acknowledgement letters are sent to referrers and waiting list letters to parents. After initial assessment, the referrer is sent another letter informing them of the outcome of our assessment.

When and where is our service available?

The service is currently open 9.00-5.00 Mondays- Fridays except Bank Holidays. Our main bases are listed in our "Contact us" section of this page (right-hand column).

Clinics are held at different venues on different days of the week. We hold clinics:

• Shropshire:
  Child Development Centre Monkmoor,
  Princess House,
  Shrewsbury Oswestry,
  Ludlow,
  Bridgnorth (Bridgnorth Hospital)
• Telford:
  Stepping Stones (Malinslee),
  Newport (Cottage Hospital),
  The Telford Langley School previously known as Phoenix Academy (Dawley)
  

Different interventions or services are better provided in different settings; this means that:

• therapists may sometimes visit parents and children/young person at home or;
  
• parents may be asked to travel to clinics or schools for appointments.
  

How can families contact the service?

Families can contact the service to find out more about what we provide or if their child is known to us to make contact with their child’s therapist through either of our main bases; see above for contact details. The Shropshire admin team office is staffed from 08:00. The Telford office opens at 09:00.

Interpreters are available for assessments of children and young people if either they or their main carers do not speak English or if they use other means of communication such as signing.

Feedback and Complaints

The service receives feedback from parents, partners and children and young people in the following ways:

• audit of feedback questionnaires following treatment sessions
• care planning and goal setting review
• sharing and learning from informal comments, complaints and compliments.
  

Wherever possible complaints are dealt with verbally and locally with clinical staff, clinical leads and managers. If you have any questions or concerns talk with your child’s Physiotherapist.

Shropshire Community Health Trust has a dedicated Patient Liaison Service (PALS) and a Complaints Manager who are both available to be contacted for support. A link for further details about these services may be found in the relevant section below.

For external agencies: is the service free or charged?

Currently support for individual children is free. Charges may be made for training.

Is the service accredited? If so, by whom?

Care Quality Commission

How can families complain if they are not happy with the service?

All complaints are handled by our Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) and Complaints teams.