Cheyne Child Development Service - Information for parents

Who’s who

Clinical Nurse Specialist

The specialist nursing team has experience in community paediatric nursing and health visiting, including supporting children with special needs. They will work with your family health visitor or school nurse to help you access community services and support for your child. They mainly work with children aged 0–6, although they are available to advise on older children.

They can offer telephone advice and clinic appointments. Email ccds.cnsteam@nhs.net or call 020 3315 6470.

Community Paediatrician

Paediatricians are doctors who specialise in children’s medicine. Community Paediatricians specialise in the care, assessment and diagnosis of children with developmental problems or difficulties.

Physiotherapist

Physiotherapists assess and treat children who have delays or difficulties with motor skills and moving independently, including on the floor, sitting, standing, walking and more advanced skills such as running and jumping. They have expertise in:

Typical and atypical development of motor skills
How motor skills are linked to a child’s play, cognition, communication, sensory and other skills
Assessing strength, mobility, balance and coordination

The physiotherapist will assess your child by:

asking about your concerns and how your child moves at home and outside
observing your child playing and, where appropriate, asking them to carry out specific activities
using structured assessments

Following assessment, appropriate therapy input, if needed, will be discussed and planned with you.

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 5 years and 11 months.

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 and 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 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 provides 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 support for your child’s language and communication skills.

Clinical Psychologist

The Psychology team at Cheyne is part of the multidisciplinary assessment service and provides 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 uses a range of assessment methods, including play, conversation, structured assessments, observations in clinic and at school, and questionnaires.

Following assessment, the Clinical Psychology team offers parent groups, consultation for staff working with children, and short-term individual interventions. We typically offer support in relation to understanding diagnosis, behaviour, emotional development, sleep and feeding.

Occupational Therapist

Occupational therapists assess and treat children who have delays or difficulties that affect their ability to independently manage everyday activities. Occupational therapists have expertise in:

sensory development
motor (movement) skills
cognitive (learning) skills
psychological and emotional development
social skills
play 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 help children achieve their potential in daily activities at school, at home and in the wider community.

Our Occupational Therapists (OTs) may see a child or young person who needs help with developing the skills needed to participate in self-care tasks, such as tooth brushing, toileting, washing, dressing and eating; taking part in learning tasks, such as writing, using scissors, and selecting and organising tools and belongings; positioning and posture to support participation in everyday activities; and accessing play and leisure resources and physical spaces. This may include supporting a child with motor coordination difficulties.

Contact details

Cheyne Child Development Service
W: Cheyne Child Development Service page

Physiotherapist
T: 020 3315 8667

Speech and Language Therapy
W: Speech and language therapy for children (CLCH)
T: 020 7266 8777

Occupational Therapist
T: 020 8102 4008

Music Therapist
T: 020 3315 6472

Clinical Psychologist
T: 020 3315 3196

Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS)
E: ccds.cnsteam@nhs.net
T: 020 3315 6470

Additional information

Parent forums are parent-led organisations that provide information and support to families who have a child or young person with special educational needs and/or disabilities. This includes children referred to the Child Development Service before and after diagnosis.

SEND Local Authority Offer

All councils now provide information on services and support available to children and young people aged 0–25 with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) through their local offer websites:

Cheyne Child Development Service

Our service provides specialist assessment and healthcare therapy for children with significant developmental needs, including those who are likely to have difficulty accessing learning.

The service is committed to a child- and family-centred approach and is organised across two clinics:

Cheyne Child Development Service

Chelsea and Westminster Hospital
Doughty House
369 Fulham Road
London
SW10 9NH

T: 020 3315 6488

Parkview Health and Wellbeing Centre

First Floor
Cranston Court
56 Bloemfontein Road
London
W12 7FC

T: 020 3704 6060

For questions about your appointment or waiting time, contact the appointments coordinator on 020 3315 3121. For questions about the assessment, what to tell your child, and resources while you wait, contact reception on 020 3315 6488.