Child Disability Team

Who We Are and Who We Work With

The Child Disability Team provides a multi-disciplinary service for diagnosis, assessment and ongoing management for any child up to the age of 18 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
Or a diagnosis known to be associated with developmental difficulties e.g. Down Syndrome

We link closely with a wide range of agencies that work with disabled children and families, ensuring effective, co-ordinated planning of services, including:

Birth-25 Integrated Disability Teams e.g. Special Educational Needs and Education, Disability Social Services, Sensory Support Teams, Portage and Inclusion Service and the Transitions Team
Lifetime, Jessie May Trust and Children’s Hospice South West
Voluntary or charitable organisations that work with disabled children

What We Do

Children referred into the Disability Teams are discussed at a multi-professional meeting to decide and plan assessment and ongoing care, where and if appropriate. These multi-professional meetings are a gateway to assessment and intervention which follow condition specific Care Pathways.

The ethos of care is centred on a ‘team around the child’ approach and the child and family is central to the way we work. We also follow the early support principles of child and family centred care.

How to get Help

Referrals are made by professionals from within CCHP. The clinician diagnosing complex needs will refer to the Child Disability Team if this is likely to be a required service. The Child Disability Team will support you to link into appropriate services.

If you are a parent and would like your child to be assessed for complex disabilities, please see your GP who is able to refer you to a Community Paediatrician.

What Next

What you can expect from the service:

Assessment, which may include diagnosis, investigation and early intervention based on a child and family’s individual needs
A flexible and responsive service committed to working in partnership with parents/carers and children and young people
High quality information and support at the earliest opportunity, to plan together with other professionals and agencies

Where You Will Be Seen

The Child Disability Service is based across Bristol and South Gloucestershire in a variety of settings, with four teams located in South, East Central and North Bristol, and South Gloucestershire. We will arrange to meet you at the CCHP base which is closest to where you live. Please explore the ‘Visiting CCHP’ sections for details of these bases.