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The Adult Speech and Language Therapy (SLT) service is provided in east and north Hertfordshire. For residents in west Hertfordshire, a service is provided by Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust.

All the speech and language therapists are registered with the national regulatory body, the Health and Care Professions Council, which maintains an online register of Speech and Language Therapists meeting the required standards.

The service works as a team to provide integrated, seamless care to adult patients with speech, language, communication, voice or swallowing difficulties. The care is patient-centred with individualised packages based on clinical evidence, good practice and clinical experience. The service works in partnership with patients and their families and with other professions, multidisciplinary teams and partner agencies to reduce the impact of these often life threatening and isolating difficulties on people’s lives.

The service has a culture of service review and development to meet identified needs.

The service is delivered from acute hospitals, community hospitals, rehabilitation units, intermediate care locations, residential and nursing homes and patients’ own homes. The patients are seen in the most appropriate setting to their needs.

The SLT service operates open access for referral for all disorders with the exception of:

• Dysphagia (swallowing) referrals should be made by a Doctor
• Dysphonia (voice) referrals require ENT examination prior to SLT assessment in line with national recommendations

Adult speech and language therapy information or view this in an accessible format

Contact the service

 

East and North Hertfordshire
Email: hcnt.sltenhct@nhs.net

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Autism assessments have recommenced

HCT are currently offering a hybrid service of virtual and face-to-face appointments depending on the needs of your child. The majority of our ASD assessments are face-to-face with some being undertaken as virtual video-based assessments with the Multidisciplinary team. This means you and your child or young person can be seen at home via video link. A clinician will contact you in advance of an appointment to discuss the process and how the assessment will be carried out on the day. This way of working is in line with national and international expert guidance, and ensures our families and staff are kept safe. In addition, this model of working is helping the team ensure that children, young people and their families can receive support based on their individual needs. Virtual assessments have already helped us to reduce the time it is currently taking to review and assess each individual.

When your child or young person is nearing the top of the waiting list, we would be grateful if you and/or the school setting where appropriate could complete and return all the forms which we will send. The forms will typically be sent by email.

If your child’s needs have changed and you no longer require an assessment appointment, please let us know as soon as possible so that we can offer the appointment to another family. You can contact the ASD Administration team by emailing hct.autism@nhs.net. If your child is under the care of the East and North Hertfordshire Paediatricians, based at Lister Hospital, QEII Hospital, Danestrete Health Centre and Hertford County Hospital, please email autism.enh-tr@nhs.net.

Whilst you are waiting for an assessment appointment, we suggest you review the information available from the Hertfordshire County Council Local Offer. The Local Offer includes a range of materials, bookable courses and workshops which can provide invaluable guidance on supporting your child or young person, both before and after their assessment. The Local Offer website is www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/localoffer.

There are an increased number of workshops for parents, carers and families awaiting ASD assessment. You can find the dates and details for the workshops by accessing the Local Offer website link above.

Making a referral for ASD assessment

Please see "Making a Referral" section below. Updated referral forms and guidance are now live.

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Breastfeeding support groups

For information on breastfeeding support groups please visit the Hertfordshire Family Centre Service website. Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust is committed to supporting breastfeeding and is in the process of implementing Unicef baby friendly standards countywide.

There is more information on Unicef UK Baby Friendly Initiative on their website.

Baby clinics

To find your nearest baby clinic, please click on the links below for further details.

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The adult bladder and bowel care service has a team of specialist nurses who have advanced knowledge in the assessment and treatment of bladder and bowel problems and provide clinics in East and North Hertfordshire. We provide a telephone advice line and also offer visits to housebound patients. For residents in west Hertfordshire, a similar service is provided by Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust.

This service offers professional, confidential advice and treatment options for bladder and bowel problems, with the aim of improving or curing your symptoms. 

Whether you’re visiting us for diagnosis or treatment, our team of specialists are here to support you.

Incontinence, whenever it occurs, is a distressing and embarrassing condition, which greatly undermines quality of life, impinging on the independence and dignity of the individual.

We can offer conservative treatments along with advice and support for individuals experiencing bladder or bowel problems.

Some of the treatments that we provide are:

• Bladder training
• Pelvic Floor Exercises
• Lifestyle changes (weight, fluid intake, diet)
• Medication
• Biofeedback
• Flowmetry
• Intermittent Self catheterisation
• Specialist Appliances (sheaths, male/female urinals)

We recognise that patients with bladder and bowel care requirements need very special attention to make sure they receive the correct care and advice to suit their lifestyle. Our team of experts is dedicated to making you feel comfortable and keeping you informed throughout.

Specialist team

The team comprises of 10 staff:

• 5 registered nurses
• 3 clinical support staff
• 2 administrators

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East and North Hertfordshire

The cardiac rehabilitation programme in East and North Hertfordshire is run by a cardiac rehabilitation nurse specialist in the community. The exercise classes for patients are run by the Lister Hospital (East and North Herts Trust Cardiology). The cardiac specialist nurse can deliver a home programme and give you advice and practical support after coming out of hospital. You can make an appointment to be seen at home or in clinic. 

The East and North programme is available from Lister Hospital for:

• Patients with a confirmed diagnosis of myocardial infarction (heart attack)
• Patients following percutaneous coronary intervention (stents)
• Patients following coronary artery bypass surgery

(Please note heart valve replacement or repair does not always meet the criteria for East and North Hertfordshire exercise classes - home visits and the home exercise programme is the pathway in this area.)

West Hertfordshire

The service in west Hertfordshire is now provided by Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust.

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From 27 June 2022, Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust is providing a care coordination centre for frail residents in Stevenage.

This new service has been developed by Hertfordshire County Council and Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust to provide an integrated triage function and care coordination across multiple organisations.

The care co-ordination centre will ensure a person receives the right intervention at the right time, by the right professional.

Patients will be triaged by the East and North Hertfordshire integrated care coordination centre and multi-organisational multidisciplinary team who will agree the most appropriate organisation to undertake an initial visit with the patient.

The visiting organisation will feedback to the multidisciplinary team and any additional referrals or input from other organisations will occur.

Updates on interventions or frailty status are monitored and tracked by the East and North Hertfordshire integrated care coordination centre and the referring service will be kept informed of the action(s) taken. The care coordination centre will act as a central point of information and co-ordination and will ensure system-wide visibility of people with frailty and their past/current support.

Any patient who is registered with a GP practice in Stevenage and who has been identified as frail or who is recovering from or at risk of falls can be referred. If referrers are not sure which pathway in the community a patient requires, or if a patient requires multiple referrals to multiple services, then a single referral can be sent into the Care Coordination Centre, who will triage and ensure the patient is placed on the correct pathway.

The pilot will run in Stevenage for 3 months and there will be continuous evaluation for the duration of the pilot period and a final evaluation will be completed to include any lessons learned, and changes that are required prior to the wider roll out across the East and North Herts system.

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Note:

Due to the high volume of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) pre-screening requests we receive, there is currently a wait for the completion of pre-screens. Please ensure that both parts of the form (home and school) is completed before sending to us in order to prevent any further delay and additional strain on our resources. 

Step2 is a children and young people’s mental health service working with 0-19 year olds in Hertfordshire. We offer brief, goal focused interventions to those who have mild to moderate mental health difficulties which are causing distress and impacting on day-to-day life. Young people should already have accessed specific help for their mental health prior to referral (which may include input from their health visitor or school nurse, counselling or group work). We offer either group or 1:1 interventions and this will depend on the nature of young people’s difficulties.

Step2 is an early intervention child and adolescent mental health (CAMHS) service working with mild to moderate mental health difficulties, as such, we do not work with children and young people who have been medicated for a mental health presentation. Where a child or young person requires medication to manage their mental health condition, they no longer meet Step2 criteria. If however, the presenting needs of the child are deemed to be most suitable to be treated by Step2 then we would expect the prescribing physician to be responsible for deciding whether that young person remains on medication or stops. If the family and physician do not feel it is appropriate to stop medication, then treatment will need to be sought elsewhere.

We also offer a screening service for suspected Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) which is available for young people who have a GP in West or South Hertfordshire - for more information see the Making a referral section. For children in East and North Herts please see https://www.enherts-tr.nhs.uk/services/adhd-add/referral-information/

The Step2 under 5s clinicians offer parent/infant relationship focused work using strengths and evidence based approaches to promote emotional health and wellbeing for infants and young children. Interventions offered include 1:1 and group approaches.

The service operates on Mondays to Fridays between 9am and 5pm. We have one main base at Starfish House in Stevenage and offer clinics on specific days of the week at other sites throughout Hertfordshire.

We are not an emergency service, please contact NHS 111 or emergency services in these circumstances.

Our dedicated administration and clinical team celebrating after being commended for "Excellence in Partnership working" by the Trust.

 

Contact the service

Please call us on 01438 730 570 or email hct.step2@nhs.net.

Please note that you may need to leave a message when you call as our administrators may be on other calls or dealing with our clinical record system.

We will always aim to be professional, fair and respectful. In return, NHS staff have the right to have safe working conditions free from harassment, bullying and violence, to be treated fairly, equally and free from discrimination.

Please note that we are not an emergency service, please contact NHS 111 or emergency services in these circumstances.

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The children and young people’s (CYP) continence service was established in February 2021 to promote health bladder and bowels for children and young people in West Hertfordshire. We also manage the allocation of continence products for our patients who require them.

We are based at the Peace Children’s Centre in Watford and the team consists of two continence nurses and two continence support workers. They are also assisted by the specialist nursing administration team. The service operates a Monday to Friday service between 9am and 5pm (except Bank Holidays).

We are a nurse led team and provide clinical assessment, treatment and support for children and young people who have bladder and/or bowel dysfunction, where first line intervention (Tier 1 from health visitors and/or school nurses, GPs) has not resolved the referring problem.

Continence issues affects large numbers of children and young people and can prevent them from achieving their full potential. It can lead onto psychological issues and these need to be spoken about and addressed. Children with additional needs are also greatly affected by continence issues, either directly or in directly of their underlining diagnosis. With our support, we will look at diet/fluids/behaviour and biological links to the continence issue. If medications are required, we will liaise with the GP and monitor the effects of the medications.

We operate a Tier 2 continence service, in line with guidance from the children’s continence commissioning guide published by the paediatric continence forum (Sept 2019) and provide support to children aged four to 18-years-old. If they attend one of our special schools, we will continue to support them until they are 19-years-old.

Location of service

West Hertfordshire

We run clinics in St Albans and Watford currently, with plans to expand according to need.

Peace Children’s Centre
Thursdays 9am to 1pm and 12pm to 5pm, alternate weeks.

St Albans Health and Wellness Centre
Wednesdays 9am to 1pm and 12pm to 5pm, alternate weeks.

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Our children and young people’s therapy service provides occupational therapy, physiotherapy and speech and language therapy for children and young people in Hertfordshire. 

Why we chose an integrated service

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.

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.

As part of Hertfordshire’s Professional Promise, we are committed to placing children and young people with SEND, together with their families, at the centre of what we do.

Our service offer

More detailed information about the children and young people’s therapy service, including how the service is delivered, referrals and how we work with children and their families can be found in our service offer.

Our services

To find out more about the three services we provide please follow the links below:

• Children's occupational therapy
• Children's physiotherapy
• Children's speech and language therapy

Training and workshops

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.

Service delivery during COVID-19

Children and young people’s therapies has changed the way we are working due to the COVID-19. On 19 July 2021 there was a relaxation in government rules surrounding COVID-19. However, the NHS will continue to adhere to existing guidance

Process for face-to-face appointments

• 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.
• HCT PPE school poster
• Social story on PPE for school visits

If you have any urgent or new queries please contact the service advice line on 01923 470680, Option 3 and a therapist will contact you to discuss your concern.

Please remember to also look on these website pages under 'Useful Information' for further advice and support.

"You said, we did" poster - Children and young people's therapy service

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The children’s community nurses are a team of nurses who are trained to care for sick children. We do most of our work in the child’s home. We also work in community settings such as clinics, schools and nurseries. The service is based in Watford and the nurses work across all of West Hertfordshire. Clinics are held in St Albans, Hemel Hempstead and Watford. We work closely with the paediatric team at Watford General Hospital as well as specialist hospitals such as Great Ormond Street. The service is provided for all children age 0 to 18 or 0 to 19 (if still at learning disability school). The service operates seven days a week and extends to 24-hour care when this is required to support a child at the end of life.

Our aim is to reduce the impact of childhood illness and reduce the need for hospital admissions. When hospital admission is needed, we work to reduce the length of stay whenever possible. The nurses will support children with long term conditions such as childhood cancer. They will also see children who require short term care for example following surgery. The nurses are skilled in managing a wide range of complex conditions, which allows the child to spend as much time as possible at home with their family.

Children's community nursing team leaflet

Contact the service

Tel: 01923 470680

Children's community nursing service offer

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The children’s eye service monitors and treats children with reduced vision and related eye conditions.

It is staffed by four orthoptists and two paediatric optometrists. Children are referred by health visitors, school nurses, GPs, paediatricians and other health professionals for orthoptic assessment, as a result of community screening or professional or parental concern or because of the family history.

The children are invited for a full orthoptic assessment including vision test, assessment for squint, stereopsis, fusion range and auto-refraction. Some children are then seen by the paediatric optometrist. Many of the children have amblyopia caused by refractive error or squint. If amblyopia treatment is not completed by aged seven, then it will not be effective. Others have eye conditions such as ocular albinism, cataracts and nystagmus.

Children can be referred on to a tertiary hospital for further tests or for squint surgery. Children with special needs are especially vulnerable to vision problems and are screened for a variety of eye problems. Their treatment plans are mostly the same as other patients, but the incidence of squint, refractive error and ocular problem is greater.

Contact the service

Tel: 01923 470680 option 2
Email: HCT.CYPSpecialistServices@nhs.net

Our centres are:

• St Albans Health and Wellbeing Centre, Civic Centre, St Peter’s Street, St Albans, AL1 3JE
• Marlowes Health and Wellbeing Centre, 39-41 Marlowes, Hemel Hempstead, HP1 1LD

Parking at our centres

There is no available parking at St Albans Health and Wellbeing Centre and The Marlowes Health and Wellbeing Centre. There are a limited number of disabled car parking spaces.

For St Albans Health and Wellbeing Centre, the closest public car parks are the Civic Centre Car Park and Charter Close Car Park.

For The Marlowes Health and Wellbeing Centre, the closest public car parks are the Watergardens and Gadebridge Park.

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The children’s hearing service (also known as paediatric audiology) offer a comprehensive family friendly service for babies, children and young people living in West Hertfordshire where there is a concern about their hearing or a known hearing difficulty. We are a team of skilled and experienced paediatric audiologists, a consultant in audiovestibular medicine and audiology assistants.

Face-to-face appointments

On arrival at the HCT centre, please follow local instructions provided when the appointment was booked. Please aim to 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.

Virtual or telephone appointments

Some appointments may be offered by telephone or virtually via ‘Attend Anywhere’. Information on using ‘Attend Anywhere’ can be found at: nhs.attendanywhere.com/callers

If you have a booked virtual appointment with us, the link to connect with us can be found on: nhs.vc/hct-cyp-audiology

Information for those awaiting an initial appointment

If you have received a referral acceptance letter from our service; we would like to reassure you that your child remains on our waiting list and will be offered an appointment once they reach the top of the waiting list. Although we aim to see all children within 18 weeks of referral, unfortunately due to COVID-19 and the restrictions in place, our waiting times for routine hearing assessments have increased significantly beyond this. We are unable to give an approximate time frame for any appointments.

If you have significant concerns regarding your child’s hearing, please contact us on the departmental email address and our clinicians will endeavour to respond to your email as quickly as they can. Please include your child’s full name and date of birth in your email.

What to expect at your audiology appointment

To prepare your child for their hearing assessment in the audiology department, you may find it helpful to watch a video with them, following a patient's journey through their audiology appointment.

What will happen at my audiology appointment? 

Information for those awaiting a follow-up appointment

If you have significant concerns regarding your child’s hearing, please contact us on the departmental email address and our clinicians will endeavour to respond to your email as quickly as they can. Please include your child’s full name and date of birth in your email.

If your child has previously been diagnosed with glue ear, please see information below on Otovent:

Otovent is a medically proven, non-invasive and drug free treatment method to combat glue ear and help avoid surgery and is recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). Children from approximately four years of age who can blow their nose can be treated with Otovent. The Otovent pack is intended for 2-3 weeks treatment. It is recommended that Otovent should be used 2-3 times each day until all excess fluid has been drained away.

How to use: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABLIfUAEvLI

For further information see gluear.co.uk

Information for hearing aid users

The department continues to provide support to our hearing aid users to ensure their hearing aids remain fully functional. If you require hearing aid batteries or supplies please contact us on the departmental email address and we can arrange for these to be posted out.

Please look at our hearing aid booklet for a ‘hearing aid maintenance and troubleshooting guide’.

If your child requires new ear moulds or you have a broken hearing aid, then please contact us on the departmental email address and we will advise you when to drop the hearing aids off for repair. Please do not drop hearing aids off without prior contact.

If you have any other questions or queries, please contact us on the departmental email address.

Contact the service

If your query is regarding initial appointment for your child following a referral please contact
Referral Hub
01923 470 680 (Option 2 > Option 1)
Email: HCT.CYPSpecialistServices@nhs.net 

If your query is regarding follow up appointments for your child or any other query please contact
Email: herts.audiology@nhs.net

Clinic locations:

• St Albans health and wellbeing centre - Children's hearing
• Marlowes health and wellbeing centre - Children's hearing
• Peace children's centre - Children's hearing

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