How we work
Primary Care
Primary Care services are usually the first point of contact when a parent or guardian is concerned about their child’s development. Many children with delays in their development can have their needs met by their local Primary Care services.
Primary Care services include Public Healthcare Nursing, Psychology, Speech and Language Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy, Social Work, Dietetics and Community Healthcare Doctors.
Primary Care services work as multidisciplinary teams. They are made up of different disciplines and each team member will independently treat the child focusing on the area they specialise in, for example, speech and language therapy or occupational therapy.
The teams will have agreed policies and procedures for working together and for communication. They will work with the family and child to meet their identified needs using individual discipline care and support plans. When working together, they use a joint care and support plan.
Children’s Disability Network Teams (CDNTs)
CDNTs address the needs of children with a wide range of complex needs arising from their disability including, but not limited to, intellectual disability, physical disability, sensory disability and autism.
CDNTs typically include the following on their team: occupational therapists (OTs), psychologists, nurses, physiotherapists (physios), social workers, dietitians and speech and language therapists (SLTs). CDNTs may also have access to other disciplines such as behaviour support specialists, early educators and therapy assistants.
CDNTs work within an interdisciplinary framework. This means that they work together and share information, decision-making, and goal-setting. They have common policies and procedures and frequent opportunities for communication. The CDNT works together with the child and family, to create an individual family support plan (IFSP).
A child’s access to a CDNT is based on their needs. A diagnosis is not required to be referred to a CDNT.
Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS)
This service provides a specialist mental health service to those aged up to 18 years old who have moderate to severe mental health disorders that require the input of a specialist multi-disciplinary mental health team.
The CAMHS-ID team aims to complement the services provided by Primary Care, CDNT's and community CAMHS.
CAMHS-ID teams consist of multidisciplinery team members such as psychiatrists, psychologists, clinical nurse specialists, social workers, occupational therapists (O.Ts), speech and language therapists (SLTs) and administrators.
Working Together
Primary Care services and CDNTs work together and a child may be referred from one service to the other depending on the complexity of their need.
A small number of children with very complex needs will need a level of expertise which may not solely be met by Primary Care or the CDNT. These children will be referred to specialist services to support and work with Primary Care and the CDNT to meet their needs.
Children may be linked with both the CDNT and CAMHS/CAMHS-ID.
Referrals into these three services
Follow this link to view our referral section.
