Our team

Cheyne Specialist Nursing Team

The Cheyne Specialist Nursing Team offers assessment and intervention service for children and young people up to 19 years old with a broad range of developmental differences. As a specialist service, referrals are typically made by professionals in the community or through the Cheyne service.

A core aspect of the team’s work is supporting families—especially those with complex neuro-disabilities, Down’s syndrome and pre-school children on autism pathways.

Children on the neuro-disability pathway receive initial assessments in clinical appointments with ongoing involvement they have transitioned to an educational setting.

Children on the preschool pathway and their parents and carers are supported at various stages. This includes group or one-to-one sessions to help identify early support needs, early referrals and signposting to appropriate support.

The Cheyne Specialist Nursing Team work with colleagues across all settings, including the community.

For further information or to contact the team email: chelwest.ccdscnsteam@nhs.net

Community Paediatricians

Paediatricians are doctors who have specialised in Children’s Medicine. Community Paediatricians have specialised in the care assessment and diagnosis of Children with developmental problems or difficulties. Our role is to find out more about you, such as how children perform certain skills like walking, running, drawing, puzzle solving and storytelling etc. We would also want to know about what your child finds interesting and what they might find a little tricky. We might also be talking to other professionals about your child's strengths and difficulties to know more about tasks they do really well or things that might be a bit harder for them. The reason we are doing this is to understand them better and think about how we might help them with things they find a little challenging.

For questions about your appointment you can contact the appointments coordinator on 020 3315 6577.

Physiotherapist

Physiotherapy can enable your child to develop their motor skills and physical independence. Our physiotherapists have a wide knowledge and experience of typical and atypical physical development in children.

The physiotherapy team provides:

  • Initial and ongoing assessment to identify physiotherapy needs and early risk factors which could limit physical development in the future.

Physiotherapy may include:

  • Neurodevelopmental / physiotherapeutic handling and exercise
  • Provision of home, nursery and school exercise and activity programmes
  • Prescription / provision and monitoring of equipment for mobility and postural management
  • Education / training to parents, carers, nursery and education staff where relevant, to support understanding of aims of physiotherapy, how to carry out activities and include these in the child’s daily life
  • To monitor hip and spine development in children with neuro-developmental conditions (eg cerebral palsy)
  • To work with the multi-disciplinary team (occupational therapists, speech and language therapists, music therapists, paediatricians etc) to ensure a holistic approach to the child’s care
  • In children with orthopaedic needs, liaise with practitioners in the neuro-orthopaedic clinics at Chelsea and Westminster hospital
  • To coordinate joint clinics with physiotherapy and orthotics for the assessment and provision of splints and insoles

Physiotherapy team
T: 020 3315 8667

Music Therapist

Music therapy uses shared music making as a way of supporting children who may have communication, social, physical or emotional difficulties. Referral to music therapy can be made for children up to the age of 6 years.

If you would like more information about the music therapy service, see our Music Therapy page.

T: 020 3315 6472
E: caw-tr.mtreferrals@nhs.net

Speech and Language Therapist

The Speech and Language Therapist looks at your child’s communication including:

  • Understanding
  • Play and social development
  • All aspects of communication including looking, pointing, gestures as well as speech

The speech and language therapist will do this by asking how your child communicates with you and by observing their play. They may ask your child to carry out some specific activities using familiar toys and pictures. Following assessment, appropriate therapy input, if needed, will be discussed and planned with you.

Speech and language therapy provide a service to pre-school children with speech, language, communication and/or swallowing difficulties.

If your child is school-aged please speak to the Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) at your child's school about supporting your child's language and communication skills.

T: 020 7266 8777

Clinical Psychologist

The Psychology team at Cheyne are part of the multidisciplinary assessments and provide support and advice to children, young people and their families.

This may involve:

  • Direct assessment of development and learning (cognitive) abilities
  • Discussion and advice regarding your child’s emotional, social and behavioural development
  • Discussion and advice regarding family relationships

The team use a range of assessment methods such as play, conversation, structured assessments, observations (in clinic and at school) and questionnaires.

In terms of support following assessment, the Clinical Psychology team offers a range of groups for parents and consultation to staff working with children. We typically offer support in relation to understanding diagnosis, behaviour, emotional development, sleep and feeding. Most of these groups are also open to families of children/young people awaiting assessment within Cheyne.

T: 020 3315 3196

Occupational Therapist

Occupational therapists assess and treat children who have delay or difficulties that affect their ability to independently achieve everyday occupational activities. Occupational therapist have expertise in:

  • Motor (movement) skills
  • Cognitive (learning) skills
  • Psychological and emotional areas
  • Social skills
  • Play development
  • Sensory development

The occupational therapist will assess your child by:

  • Discussing your concerns
  • Observing play and activity
  • Using standard assessments

The Occupational Therapy Team works collaboratively with children, their families and school communities to enable children to achieve their potential within their occupations at school, home and the wider community. Our Occupational Therapists (OTs) may see a child or young person who requires help with: developing the skills needed to participate in self-care tasks (eg tooth brushing, toileting, washing, dressing, eating); participating in learning tasks (eg writing, using scissors, selecting and organising tools/belongings); positioning and posture to support participation in everyday activities; accessing play/leisure resources and physical access - this may include supporting a child with motor coordination difficulties.

T: 020 7266 8777