The Children and Young People’s Therapies service will continue to comply with current social distancing measures when delivering appointments by using a virtual first approach. Therapists will deliver face to face intervention where indicated, wearing appropriate PPE for all sessions, both in education setting, clinic or at home. Within HCT all staff have been offered the COVID-19 vaccination and those who are undertaking face to face appointments are regularly self-testing using a Lateral Flow test.
Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust’s (HCT), Children and Young People’s Therapies Service provides Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy and Speech and Language Therapy for children and young people in Hertfordshire. The integrated therapies service delivers holistic support for a child or young person’s needs, under one provider, with multidisciplinary working across the three clinical therapy professions.
The service is jointly commissioned by East and North Hertfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group, Herts Valley Clinical Commissioning Group and Hertfordshire County Council to provide support and advice for children and young people from 0-18 years of age, or up to 25 years for those with an Education Health and Care Plan.
Our focus is on maximising children and young people’s functional skills and abilities to support them to be happy, healthy, safe and independent at home and in school. We share the vision of our partners in Hertfordshire County Council to ensure every child has the best possible start in life and the best opportunities throughout their education.
More detailed information about the Children and Young People’s Therapies Service, including how service is delivered, referrals and how we work with children and their families is available here.
To find out more about each service please follow the links below:
We are currently reviewing our training courses and workshop sessions, so that these can be delivered in a new virtual format. Training session dates are currently available on the individual profession pages. New dates and details are added regularly so please come back and check again if you are interested in any of our sessions.
This is a dedicated telephone number which parents, carers and professionals can call to speak to a therapist about a new referral or a child’s development. Please leave a message on our Advice Line and a therapist will contact you. Calls are responded to by a therapist on weekdays.
We are moving! From 1 July 2021 all HCT Children's Services will operate from the Health Wellbeing Centre in St Albans's Civic Centre. More information can be found here.
Service Delivery during COVID-19
Children and Young People’s Therapies has changed the way we are working due to the COVID-19. Information for parents/carers and headteachers on how the service is continuing to support children from September is available here:
Please do not attend a face-to-face appointment if you, your child or anyone in your household is exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms or if you or your child are required to self-isolate during the time of the appointment.
Only one parent/guardian is permitted to attend the appointment with a child. Please do not bring any other children to the appointment.
On arrival at the HCT centre, please follow local instructions provided when the appointment was booked. Please arrive at your appointment time as there is limited waiting space in the buildings and car parks. A clinician will collect you and lead you to the clinic room. Clinicians will be wearing personal protective equipment, as per recommended guidelines.
We ask that you maintain social distancing wherever possible and when entering the building, please ensure that both of you are wearing a face covering or mask (very young children or those with additional needs will not be required to wear a face covering or mask).
Strict cleaning procedures are in place.
Along with our Advice Line we are also delivering:
Support for CYP who need to be discharged out of hospital
Support for CYP who may require end of life care or an urgent social care assessment
Support for CYP with dysphagia (eating and drinking difficulties)
Urgent moving/handling and access assessments, and advice/review of equipment needs
Assessments for statutory Education, Health and Care plans
Contacting families of CYP with therapy provision as part of their EHCP to discuss their child’s needs and deliver intervention
Appointments to review a CYP’s needs where they have complex or urgent therapy needs or for those CYP whose needs are as yet unclear
Delivering therapy blocks of intervention with a blended approach of face to face or virtual
Equipment assessments
Delivering virtual training and workshops for parents and setting staff
Delivering Virtual screening clinics for OT and SaLT
We are currently reviewing delivery of face to face groups.
If you have any urgent or new queries please contact the CYPT Advice Line number - 01923 470680, Option 3 and a therapist will contact you to discuss your concern.
Please remember to also look on the Website pages under Useful Information for further advice and support.
Therapy teams work with children and young people in the most appropriate setting to promote functional skills. We routinely visit early years settings, mainstream schools and specialist educational settings. Some children may be seen at home or in clinic according to clinical need.
Multidisciplinary therapy teams are co-located in locality areas to facilitate the co-ordination of care for children, young people and their families. We have four teams across the county:
North Hertfordshire and Stevenage CYPT Team
East Hertfordshire CYPT Team
St Albans and Dacorum CYPT Team
Watford and Three Rivers CYPT Team
In addition to these teams we have specialist Occupational Therapy teams who work across the county to support with home adaptations and deliver specialist Moving and Handling training. We have a specialist Speech and Language Therapy team who support multidisciplinary autism assessment pathways across Hertfordshire.
Read more about how the Therapies Service will work with mainstream settings here.
We provide support and advice for children and young people from 0-18 years of age. Our Occupational Therapy and Speech and Language Therapy teams also support young people up to 25 years of age, when therapy provision is specified in their Hertfordshire Education Health and Care Plan.
We are commissioned to support children and young people who:
attend an educational setting within Hertfordshire
live at an address within Hertfordshire
are registered with a Hertfordshire GP
All referrals will be triaged by the service to assess need and impact. Families and the referring professional will be advised of the next steps following triage.
All referrals sent to the service are triaged by a therapist. The information in the referral will be used to make a decision on whether an assessment appointment will be offered. Referrals for Physiotherapy must be made by a Health Professional. Referrals for Occupational Therapy and Speech & Language Therapy can be made by education and health professionals. If your child is in full-time school you should discuss any concerns you may have with your child’s teacher. Some children can be supported in their school without a referral to the service.
OT/SaLT Screening Clinic Case History Form will be available soon.
These clinics offer an opportunity for you to talk with the therapist regarding your child’s development and for us to gather information to understand your child’s needs. You may have been directed to these clinics by a Health Visitor or a professional working with your child but you do not need a referral to attend one of these clinics.
Please click HERE and head to Making a Referral to access further information and to book your place for the SaLT Virtual Screening Clinic.
