How does it work?

All referrals of Barnet resident children for any ‘child development’ concern are discussed at a weekly Child Development Service multi-disciplinary intake meeting. 

This meeting usually includes representatives from Speech & Language Therapy, Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, Barnet Early Years SEND Advisory team (previously known as the Pre-School Teaching team), Neurodevelopmental Paediatrics* and Community Nursing.  Each referral is discussed briefly, and a decision is made – based on the available information – whether it can be accepted, and if so to which service(s). 

 

'Who we are and what we do' provides an overview of all the different teams that work as part of the Child Development Service, including their contact details.

 

 

What does this mean for families?

  • Where it is clear from the initial referral that a child is going to need input from several services, they do not have to wait until they have seen one service in order to get on the waiting list for another.(This shortens waiting times)

  • It will be made clear to the family and the referrer which service(s) will offer the initial contact.  Subsequent involvement of additional services will take place as appropriate without needing further referrals.  

 

What does this mean for referrers?

  • You will know that your referral is being considered by a senior multi-disciplinary and multi-agency forum.

  • You will only have to complete one referral form, even if the child needs to access several of the above services.

 

How to refer?

For an optimal response, please ensure that you complete the Referral Form and also attach all other relevant reports / documents.

 

Additional Information for Health professionals/ SENDCos referring to Barnet Neurodevelopmental Paediatrics*

Please send the completed CDS referral form with completed Parent / Carer Pre-clinic questionnaire to our secure email address, [email protected]

If child / young person is at nursery / school, please also ask the SENDCo to complete the Nursery and School Observation form and send promptly to prevent delay in processing.

Once this information is received, the referral will be discussed at the Barnet Child Development MDT meeting and allocated to the appropriate teams.

 

*Please ensure the child /young person is registered with a Barnet ICB GP

 

Further detailed guidance can be found on the Referrers page