Service description
Children’s Community Physiotherapy Service is provided for children and young people with disorders or delays in their movement skills who will benefit from physiotherapy. Physiotherapy helps to develop (or re-gain) movement abilities and prevent or minimise long-term problems and can be summarised as the ‘medicine for movement’.
Physiotherapists provide assessments, therapy, practical advice, strategies and equipment to ensure children with physical needs are able to develop and achieve physically, academically, socially and emotionally, with support of family and carers, to reach their full potential. Physiotherapy staff work in a multi-agency context with partners in education and acute hospital trusts. The service is comprised of physiotherapists and support staff. Intervention is delivered in a variety of ways depending on the needs of the child and family; this may be through individual or group therapy, parent education sessions or the provision of equipment.
The aim of intervention is for the family and carers to be able to understand and self-manage the child’s condition and ongoing needs. It is not unusual for a child to have a number of phases of treatment throughout their childhood and they may be transferred back to the care of universal health visiting or school nursing and their GP during this time. As new needs emerge a referral can be made back to the service.
Referral criteria
- Children and young people from birth to age 16 (up to 19 years in statutory education) registered to GP practices in Leicester City, Leicestershire County and Rutland.
- Children and young people attending schools within Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland if the physiotherapy therapy intervention needs to be delivered in the context of the curriculum.
- Children and young people with significant functional; independence; sensory; movement or perceptual difficulties that can be changed through physiotherapy therapy intervention.
We see children with:
- Developmental disorders or delays in their movement and gross motor skills
- Neurological deficit
- Acquired neurology
- Neuromuscular deficit
- Complex special needs that includes neurodevelopmental delay with complex physical disability equivalent to GMFSC III to V in CP
Who to contact if you need an interpreter or information about disabled access
Please ask the professional referring into our service to let us know if an interpreter is needed for your appointment. Alternately, requests can be made by contacting us on 0116 295 2492.