For those children and young people with disabilities, and as parents of a child or young person with a disability there may be a need to access a wide range of services to offer support from various different agencies including health, social care and education. Across Bristol and South Gloucestershire all healthcare and local authority services provide individual services to address the needs of those with disabilities, based on the specialist knowledge of the teams working within these service providers.
The Local Offer
We all have a duty to let you know what to expect from our services - known as the Local Offer. Bristol City Council have The Birth-25 Disability Team, a dedicated team working to improve the flow for accessing all related services, even when these are run by different providers. They have produced the Findability website - where you can find out about all relevant services offered locally. South Gloucestershire also have Birth-25 Integrated Service information on their website. Please see below the two local authority links:
South Gloucestershire Local Offer
Bristol City Council Local Offer
Accessing services
For those with a recent diagnosis and who may be new to services, it can be a daunting prospect in understanding where to go for help. Within the CCHP, The Child Disability Team supports families in accessing the right services required for each individual child alongside a range of external agencies (i.e. Local Authority Services and Education).
A child with a complex disability is defined as any child for whom there is a need for assessment / input from more than two health teams and a significant degree of:
- Developmental delay / learning disability
- Motor disorder
- Sensory impairment causing significant disorder of motor function
- Social and Communication Difficulties e.g. Autism
- A diagnosis known to be associated with developmental difficulties e.g. Down Syndrome
We also appreciate, that for those accessing disability services, this extends beyond healthcare and into every area of life. All agencies providing services for those with disabilities in Bristol are aware of this and are continually working on making such systems work together better for you.
Video - This film is an inspirational film made by a young person in Bristol. Barnardo's HYPE service and CCHP provided the resources for Tegan to make this film.
Video - Ryan's Story tells you how different professionals within the health team around the child have supported a family living with cerebral palsy.
The following films describe the roles of different professionals in the life of two twins living with cerebral palsy and with one of the boys attending Claremont School in Bristol.
Please find out more about the CCHP services and about other services in the health community you may find useful by exploring this section of the website and clicking on the links to the right and left. If you have any feedback, or would like to contribute any ideas to improve this please visit the 'Your Say' section.