Appointment Information

Most appointments are offered at locally based clinic settings and the service operates on a Monday-Friday between 9 am- 4 pm excluding bank holidays.

We ask that parent/carers attend the initial appointment with the child to give consent and provide other information. Goals and programmes will be agreed with the child (where possible) and parent/carers. Any programmes or recommendations agreed by parents/carers need to be completed for a successful outcome.

If you cannot make the appointment for any reason we ask that you ring to let the department know, if you fail to contact the department after booking an appointment this might result to the child being discharged from the service without being seen.

Interventions

The intervention that your child receives will be dependent on their needs. As Physiotherapists we will assess your child and provide advice.

Your Physiotherapist will discuss with you the difficulties your child has with movement and set goals with you. It is important that Physiotherapy is incorporated into your child and family’s daily routines in order for it to be truly effective. This will include a 24/7 approach where positioning and activities are repeated frequently throughout the day by everyone involved in your child’s care.

With your permission, we can share these goals with nurseries and schools and other family members to ensure that everyone understands the important role that they play in your child’s Physiotherapy programme. The programme will be regularly evaluated to make sure that your child achieves their optimal function.

Below is an example of the interventions we may provide:

Movement Programme’s

Your child’s Physiotherapist may provide an individual treatment programme to be completed regularly. Your child’s Physiotherapist will advise you on how often this needs to be completed and will depend on your child’s needs.  The programme will be regularly evaluated to make sure that your child is still achieving goals. Once these goals have been achieved your child may be discharged from the service or new goals set depending on their needs.

Advice and Education

Your child’s Physiotherapist may also offer you advice on strategies that you can implement to help your child or they may signpost you to other activities that may be useful.

CPIP’s (Cerebral Palsy Integrated Pathway) Monitoring

For Children on our caseload that have a diagnosis of Cerebral Palsy we offer regular hip monitoring as per the Cerebral Palsy Integrated Pathway. The children who receive this will be aged between 2 and 16 with a diagnosis or working diagnosis of CP. If under 6 these will be completed every six months, over 6’s will receive this on a yearly basis as per the guidelines.

The assessment is important in identifying potential hip problems and results of the assessment are updated onto the West Midlands CPIPs database. From these clinics onward referrals may need to be made to services such as Orthotics, Spasticity Management or Orthopedics. The Physiotherapist in clinic will discuss these onward referrals with you before making them.

Equipment Provision

Some children require specialist equipment to support their posture and promote movement and independence. These children/young people may have difficulties in sitting or standing unaided, or they may require assistance to walk.

Specialist equipment includes:

Standing frames

Walking Aids

Specialist seating to improve posture

Sleep systems

Postural support equipment

Your child’s Physiotherapist will assess and identify the required equipment and then liaise with the appropriate agencies for supply and funding of the items. Most home-based equipment will be funded by Solihull Equipment Loans Service and school-based equipment funded by the school or Local Education Authority.

Please note some home seating maybe assessed for by the Occupational Therapy team who work for Solihull Metropolitan Council rather than the Paediatric Physiotherapy service.

Advice is given to parents on how to make minor adjustments to the equipment and the service reviews the equipment once a year, or at parents’ request. If your child grows and needs an earlier review of their equipment, please contact us on 0121 722 8010 to make us aware.

24 Hour Postural Care Advice

The Paediatric Physiotherapy service advocates a 24-hour postural management strategy in children with neurological, neurodevelopmental and neuromuscular conditions.

This approach enables the child or young person to take part in activities appropriate to their stage of motor development. The approach is endorsed by the APCP (Association of Paediatric Children’s Physiotherapists) and the CSP (Chartered Society of Physiotherapists) and has been adopted nationwide including by our neighbouring service, Birmingham community paediatric physiotherapy service. It is based on the most recent neurological research around brain development.

It involves being aware of the postures that the child or young person adopts during the day and night and uses handling and equipment to promote the most beneficial positions. This makes the child more comfortable and more alert for other activities. It also reduces joint tightening and other skeletal problems. The approach includes demonstrating to all those who have contact with the child during the day/night how to replicate these beneficial positions so that they are carried through 24 hours a day and 7 days a week.

See: (https://www.bhamcommunity.nhs.uk/patients-public/children-and-young-people/services-parent-portal/paediatric-physiotherapy-service/postural-care-pathway-film/)

The Paediatric Physiotherapy service offers training to parents and carers involved in delivering postural management strategies. Where appropriate, anyone who spends time with the child should be trained in the delivery of Physiotherapy interventions in order to achieve a 24/7 approach. This may include families, teachers and carers who will be given training and support in order to work with the child throughout the day and outside of the sessions that the Physiotherapy staff provide.

Support and education

The Physiotherapist may attend meetings around the child/young person’s care. This can include the Team Around the Family meetings and Common Assessment Framework meetings. When required the Paediatric Physiotherapy Service will provide information for reports (for example to inform the Education and Healthcare Plan).

Joint working

Paediatric Physiotherapists work very closely with various agencies, these include:

• Acute Hospital Paediatric Physiotherapy Services at Heartlands and Solihull Hospitals
• Community Services (Paediatricians, nursing, therapies)
• The Specialist Assessment Service for Complex Medical Needs
• Specialist Inclusion Support Service
• Equipment Loans

This work may include joint assessments and interventions or may include onward referrals and liaison.

We are working closely with the CCG and Birmingham services to ensure that children get the right care in the right place.

It is our aspiration to meet these 9 principles:

1. The health care should be right for each individual child and family.
2. Children should get their health care in the place where it can make the most difference and works best for the child and the family.
3. Health workers should talk and share information with each other. They should trust each other.
4. When a health service sees a child at home or a clinic, they should tell the school and the parents.
5. All the different people who work with a child should be involved when big decisions are made.
6. If someone is giving advice to a child in one place, this should also be used for other children with similar needs. This makes school a supportive place.
7. If the school has a few children with complicated health needs the health team at the school is best placed to support these needs.
8. The child should not be moved from one health service to another, unless it is best for the child. The child should get the same support from any of the health services across Birmingham and Solihull and not have to wait too long to get it. The child should stay at their original service until there is a space for them to be treated by the other service.
9. The child should get the same support from any of the health services across Birmingham and Solihull and not have to wait too long to get it.

For further information please click this link to see the CCG’s cross border working principles. cross-border-working-principles-easy-read-_FINAL.pdf (socialsolihull.org.uk)