Our Referral information can be accessed on the My Life Warrington website.
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 referral form. Referrals should be sent tobchft.neurodevelopmentpathwayreferrals@nhs.net
- 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
What to do if you are worried about a neurodevelopmental condition?
We know that, sometimes, children and young people with neurodevelopmental conditions do not show some of their difficulties at school. Others can find things more difficult in school, and they demonstrate this in their behaviour.
Whatever the case, it is important for schools and parents/carers to discuss their concerns with each other and listen to different points of view before making a referral to our service.
Some children and young people may be ready to talk about the differences they are experiencing. It is okay to talk about these differences with your child, too.
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.