Physiotherapy for Children
This service provides paediatric physiotherapy services to babies, children, and young people up to the age of 18 (up to 19 if in special education) across Brighton and Hove and West Sussex.
What does this service provide?
Who we are
We are a team of paediatric physiotherapists with highly specialist knowledge and experience of child development and childhood disabilities. We approach each child with a broad outlook around their needs.
What we do
Paediatric physiotherapy is the treatment and care of babies, children and young people with conditions that may impact their development and wellbeing.
We can treat children with a wide range of conditions including:
- developmental delay
- neurological or neuromuscular disorders e.g. Cerebral Palsy, Muscular Dystrophy
- congenital syndromes and metabolic diseases e.g. Down syndrome, Rett Syndrome
- co-ordination difficulties
- orthopaedic conditions
- hypermobility and ligament laxity
- musculoskeletal conditions, for example, knee pain (up to the age of 16 years at Chichester and Crawley and Horsham locations. The other locations are seen by the acute hospital services)
Our primary focus is always our patient and their support network. We are led by you and tailor our assessment, goals, and intervention to meet your child’s individual needs. Intervention may include: a personalised treatment programme to be carried out with parents/carers/educational setting, advice and strategies, provision of orthotics (foot supports or shoe insoles) and other equipment.
We invite children and families into our child development centres, as well as working in schools and community settings. We also offer home visits so we can review equipment or provide complex post-operative care.
We understand the importance of working collaboratively with colleagues including health visitors, GPs, occupational therapists, speech and language therapists and paediatricians among many others. It is common practice to ask your consent to share information with other services to enable a cohesive approach to facilitate the best possible care for your child.
Appointment information
Appointment types
Please refer to the individual locations of your therapists for further information regarding booking an appointment, parking and contact details.
More detailed information about the date, time and location of your appointment can be found on your appointment letter.
We offer face-to-face appointments, as well as telephone and virtual appointments. Most assessment clinics take place at our Child Development Centres, but we sometimes visit children in special schools, mainstream schools, nurseries, and in family homes in the community, depending on the need.
Who you'll see at your appointment
Your child will see one of our paediatric physiotherapists. The clinician your child will see will depend specifically on their needs.
How can I access this service?
We accept referrals from healthcare and education professionals, for children and young people under the age of 18 years (up to 19 if in special education) who live in Brighton and Hove and West Sussex and are registered with a Brighton and Hove or West Sussex GP. If your child is at school, you could discuss your concerns with the Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO).
Our referral criteria depend upon which service is required and whether this is musculoskeletal physiotherapy or neurological physiotherapy.
Following receipt of a referral, if appropriate, an initial appointment will be offered with a paediatric physiotherapist via telephone call or letter.
If a referral does not meet our criteria, the referrer will be informed and if appropriate, signposted to the correct service.
Following discharge from paediatric physiotherapy, the referrer will receive a discharge letter explaining any follow up advice or guidance. You will also receive a copy of this letter.
If you have recently been discharged and require further information or advice regarding the same condition, please contact the individual service as this may not require a re-referral from a health professional. Following a conversation, we will be able to advise how to proceed.
Where can I access this service?
Once we’ve received and accepted the referral for your child, our team will contact you and provide you with the relevant contact information for your locality team. Further contact details for each location can be found below.
Please see the Child Development Services page for Child Development Centre addresses and opening times.
Contact details
Where can I find resources for this service?
Parents’ leaflet - The Association of Paediatric Chartered Physiotherapists APCP
Information about your new orthosis
Information and advice on your new orthosis, including instructions for use and how long to wear it.
Friends and family test
Have you received care or treatment from this service? Please complete one of our friends and family tests below to help us improve our services to you:
- Brighton and Hove Physiotherapy Team
- Chichester Physiotherapy Team
- Crawley Physiotherapy Team
- Haywards Heath Physiotherapy Team
Get the best from your NHS
If you need advice about our services, facilities or staff, or would like to make a comment, please contact Patient Advice and Liaison Services (PALS).
Contact details
You can contact PALS by the following:
Telephone: 01273 242 292Email: sc-tr.pals@nhs.net
Give feedback
Tell us what you think about our services, what we are good at, where we can improve, and what matters to you? All feedback will be shared anonymously wherever possible, but if you have any questions about this, please ask.
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