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Notice

Following the Government announcement of a further lockdown, please be aware that clinical and virtual appointments are unaffected. If you have an appointment with the service, it will still take place.

The community paediatrics team continues to support the local NHS response to the Covid-19 pandemic. For the majority of our work, we cannot see patients and families face to face but continue to offer support through telephone consultations and in some cases video consultations. Where possible we will contact you ahead of time by letter, text message with the date and time of the appointment but sometimes the paediatrician may call without prior notice.

We will continue:

• Safeguarding medicals including seeing these children and a parent/guardian face to face after a COVID-19 risk assessment.
• Initial health assessments for children in foster care, by telephone/video consultation or face to face if an urgent medical need is identified.
• Telephone consultation for new requests for Education Health Care Plan assessments and advice provided to local authority.
• We will continue with telephone consultation for children currently under our care.
• We will offer an initial telephone appointments usually followed by a face-to-face appointments. For the very few initial appointments that have a medically urgent need will have initial face to face appointment.

Autism Assessments have restarted

The majority of our ASD assessments are 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 or QEII 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. Click here for the Local Offer website.

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.

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

Contact us

If you need to contact the service please email using wh.compaeds@nhs.net or call the referral hub on 01923 470680

If you have a query regarding your child or young person’s autism assessment and they are under the care of the West Hertfordshire Paediatricians, please email hct.autism@nhs.net.

If your child is under the care of the East and North Hertfordshire paediatricians, based at Lister or QEII Hospital, please email autism.enh-tr@nhs.net.

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

Professionals’ referrals to Community Paediatrics are through DXS and SystmOne as usual.

Advice and guidance is available through the Electronic Referral System (ERS).

The children’s community paediatrics team consists of paediatricians who provide high quality specialist care in the assessment of developmental disorders and disability. The service provides statutory health assessments of looked after children and input for children with complex health care needs. Other services provided are leadership responsibility for SEND, safeguarding and looked after children.

This website is designed to give you an insight into the care that the team provides and what you should expect from this service.

Whether you’re visiting us for diagnosis and/or treatment, our team of specialists are here to support you. Please use the links on this site to find out more about what we do and how to access our services.

Community paediatricians

Community paediatricians are doctors who have specific expertise in assessing children with neurodevelopmental difficulties such as delayed development, ADHD, ASD, various syndromes etc.

Referral to a community paediatrician

We do not accept referrals without informed parental consent. We expect that your child’s referrer will have discussed the reasons for referral with you before sending through documentation to us. If you are unsure why your child has been referred please contact the person who made the referral for clarification.

Being seen by a community paediatrician

• Children with complex health needs and disability
  This includes diagnoses such as cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, Down syndrome, other genetic syndromes and many others. The diagnosis may have already been made by another doctor before we see your child but often our team is involved in the identification of the cause of underlying difficulties. Children with these diagnoses typically need specialist input in more than one area of their development and general health. Community paediatricians provide medical input and may take a lead (with parents) in holistic planning for your child’s needs.
• Children with neurodevelopmental disorders
  This includes diagnoses such as autistic spectrum disorder, developmental coordination disorder, learning difficulty, and many others. Children with these diagnoses are typically physically healthy, but have difficulty in gaining skills in a range of developmental areas. These areas include language skills (speaking, listening and reading), physical skills (writing, riding a bicycle), social skills (friendships, family relationships), academic achievement. Community paediatricians provide a medical perspective and explanation to families and staff from other organisations. We aim to foster understanding of an individual child’s strengths and areas of need. We may advise on strategies that may help, that have scientific evidence to support their use. We may make referrals to other health professionals.
• Medical advice on child protection and safeguarding children
  Community paediatricians have broad and specific knowledge and experience of child protection and safeguarding. We are sometimes asked to give our opinion on a child’s health and wellbeing, and some of our team carry out ‘safeguarding medicals’ on request by social services. Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children depends on effective joint working between professionals that have different roles and expertise.
• Medical advice on the impact of health problems in educational settings
  If a child has health or developmental needs that are impacting on their education, community paediatricians may be asked to share information about the child with the school and also the education authority. Parents will be asked to provide consent for this. Children may also be assessed by a community paediatrician if the education authority has decided to initiate an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP). This is usually a one off appointment to complete a profile of the child’s health and developmental needs and how this impacts on their education.
• Statutory medicals for children living in special circumstances e.g. children looked after by the local authority and medical input to the adoption process
  Community paediatricians assess children who have recently come into the care of the local authority, to ensure that their health needs are met. Parents or people with parental responsibility will be asked to provide consent for information about the child to be shared between community paediatricians and the local authority.

Locations for community paediatricians

We work as part of a wider child development team which includes occupational therapists, physiotherapists, speech therapists, and have close links with preschool educational advisers.

The child development teams are based at one of the three Children’s Centres:

Peace Children’s Centre, Watford
Marlowes Health and Wellbeing Centre, Hemel Hempstead
St Albans Child Development Centre, St Albans

We may sometimes also see your child in their nursery or school. We also work closely with heath visitors, school nurses, community children’s nurses, audiology, social care, nurseries and schools, hospital paediatricians, and children’s emotional wellbeing and mental health services.

Contact the Service

Tel: 01923 470600 (Peace Children's Centre, Watford)
Tel: 01727 891100 (St Albans Children's Centre, St Albans)
Tel: 01442 275683 (The Marlowes, Hemel Hempstead)