Community Paediatricians do not offer cognitive assessments, educational support or advice on school age children, nor diagnose dyspraxia or specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia and .

Eligibility:

• Children must be under a GP in the Cambridge CCG and either a resident in Cambridgeshire or attend a Cambridgeshire school.
• Children should be of primary school age.
• Referrals should be made by the child’s school setting due to the amount of supporting
• information required, we would not expect a GP to make these referrals unless in exceptional cases (see exceptions below).

Children who are presenting with early developmental impairment/social communication difficulties before starting school will require a referral via Early Support.

Minimum information required for all referrals in this pathway:

• Completed Neurodevelopmental Referral Form
• Early Help Assessment (EHA).
• Involvement of the school SENCo.
• Evidence of the school using a graduated response, and following a clear cycle of ‘Assess, Plan, Do, Review’ with outcome measures of appropriate strategies and interventions used
• SEND Service 0-25 reports where involved.
• Assessment of a child’s current academic attainment (see referral form).
• Relevant information regarding family and social background, Social Care involvement and child protection concerns. This should be included either in the EHA or the referral form.

For Social Communication/ASC please also include:

• Where schools have engaged in ASD training (such as AET level 1-3) evidence of how strategies have been imbedded within school practice, and their impact Social communications descriptors completed by school.

For ADHD please also include:

• Evidence of behavioural management and intervention, either universal or targeted from the Locality Team. For parenting and behavioural support for families, please specify dates and course name and provide certificates if available. Referrals will not be considered unless this has already been undertaken prior to referral and the response has been evaluated
• Information regarding any home or environmental factors which may have an impact on that child’s behaviour and/or functioning, if not already included on the referral form or EHA

For Learning Disability please also include:

• Details of child’s levels of attainment using standardised assessments

Exceptions

There will be some children in whom not all information will be available i.e:

• Children who are home schooled.
• Children attending an out of Cambridge school but live in Cambridgeshire.
• Children who have recently relocated into the area.

We would advise that these children are discussed with the referral intake team individually before a referral is made as other arrangements may be made for these cases.

Neurodevelopmental concerns

Other concerns

For example:

• Physical difficulties/disabilities
• Infants who are presenting with an obvious delay in their development or is in association with other medical conditions/genetic diagnoses

Please refer directly to Community Paediatrics through the GP.

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