The pathway has been designed to make sure that children get the support they need at the right time.
The pathway incudes:
- Referrals can be made directly to the child development centre – use our Warrington Neurodevelopment Assessment Pathway Service Referral Form. Referrals should be sent to bchft.neurodevelopmentpathwayreferrals@nhs.net.
Important: Although we welcome any supporting information for assessments, please do not send any photographs or videos. - A graduated approach – where needs are identified at the first opportunity, so that families have earlier access to support
- Early intervention – where only appropriate referrals move onto the assessment and diagnostic phase of the process, and other requests for support are diverted to early help services
- A multi-disciplinary approach – we look a the child and family as a whole, this helps us to provide access to support both before and after our assessment process
I think my child or young person might have Autism or ADHD, what should I do?
If you are starting to notice signs that your child or young person may have Autism or ADHD, there are several steps you can take.
Initially, parents and carers should seek information about the differences that people with Autism or ADHD may present with. You can do this by clicking the following links to trusted NHS information:
Other useful resources can be found in the following document:
Additionally, you may wish to contact your local SEND parent/carer forums for advice and support:
After you have explored these services, you may wish to contact the 0-19 Service, your child’s nursery worker or your child or young person’s Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) at school for further guidance and discussion.
This is known as a graduated approach and local support services should be explored and accessed before any referrals to the NDP are submitted.
If, after exploring these resources, you or the professional feels that your child or young person needs to be referred for an assessment then it is recommended that you complete the referral together.
Input from people who know your child or young person in different settings is crucial to ensure a comprehensive and informative referral is made.
Criteria for referral
Our team provides a service to children up to the ages of 16 and 11 months and families who live in Warrington and have a Warrington GP/School.
If you live outside Warrington, there may be a similar service in your area.
We will accept referrals from:
- Schools, nurseries, other educational settings
- Allied health professionals – this includes health visitors, speech and language therapists, occupational therapists, physiotherapists and mental health services (CAMHS).
The most useful way of making a referral is for the professional and parents to work together to complete the form.
If a child or young person is not attending a school or nursery, then a referral will be accepted from the relevant health professional working with the child.
We no longer accept referrals from GPs.
When we receive the referral form, we look at the information and decide whether there is enough evidence of a neurodevelopmental condition to allow us to continue with an assessment. If we need more information, we will ask for this by returning the form to the person who sent it.
It is important that the referrals to the neurodevelopment pathway are complete with relevant and up to date information.