Sefton SPOT

Sefton Speech, Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy

Information for Families and Referrers

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Sefton Speech, Physio and Occupational Therapy (SPOT) Leaflet for Families PIAG 294 (399kB pdf)

About the SPOT Service

We are a multidisciplinary team of Speech and language therapists, Physiotherapists & Occupational Therapists who are based across two sites in Sefton. We work with children aged under 3 years in a variety of settings including clinics, home and nursery.

Your child may be referred for a SPOT assessment if there are concerns about how their development is progressing.

We accept referrals from a variety of services including health visitors, GPs or hospital consultants. We also accept referrals from parents / carers.

How can the SPOT team help?

The therapists who work in the SPOT team are specially trained and very experienced in treating babies and toddlers. We will invite your child to a SPOT clinic appointment for an assessment.

We may assess any or all of the following:

• Developmental progress
• Patterns and quality of movement
• Joint range of movement, muscle tone and muscle strength
• Posture & positioning
• Hand function
• Play skills
• Communication (in combination with other difficulties)
• Functional difficulties including feeding and dressing

If we accept a referral, we will aim to offer an appointment with the SPOT team within 18 weeks.

If you think your child has social interaction or communication issues including sensory difficulties, they need to be referred to the relevant therapist i.e. speech and language therapist or Occupational Therapy, not SPOT.

What to expect?

At the first appointment, we will need to gain written consent. It is therefore essential that a person with parental / legal responsibility brings the child to the appointment.

At this appointment, we will listen to your concerns and work to understand the difficulties your child is experiencing. This can be done through discussion, observation and assessment. We will ask what activities your child is already engaged in. We will then assess your child in a variety of positions including lying, sitting and standing if appropriate. The physiotherapist may need to therapeutically handle your child’s limbs in order to complete the assessment and so your child may need to be undressed.

We may use the Bayley Infant Neurodevelopmental Screener, which is an assessment tool that involves a range of play based activities. This helps us to check if your child has any developmental problems or delay.

We will prepare a report which will contain our findings based on the assessment, confirmation of our discussion and a clear plan that we have agreed with you. This report is usually sent to you, and those involved in your child’s care e.g. community paediatrician, GP, health visitor. If there is anyone you do not want us to send a copy to, please let us know.

Possible outcomes from the assessment:

• Advice and strategies or programmes to be carried out at home and/or nursery.
  Families will be expected to follow therapy advice / programmes where provided. This is a really important part of treatment if you want therapy to help with any problems.
• Referral to other Professionals for example Education, Community Paediatrician etc.
• Signposting to other services / charities
• Further assessment / investigation of need
• Monitoring your child’s progress over time
• Treatment / intervention by one or members of the SPOT Team
• Provision of equipment
• Discharge

Our patients matter

If you have any comments or concerns about the service we provide, you can speak with a member of the team directly via the telephone numbers above or contact our Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS): 0151 252 5161 or email [email protected]

How to contact us: [email protected]

Dependent upon where you live, you can contact the Physiotherapy Service in your area. Or visit our website for more information at:

North Sefton
Children’s Therapy Service
Hoghton Street Clinic
52 Hoghton Street
Southport
PR9 0PN
Tel: 01704 395 895
(Areas covered – L37, PR8, PR9)

South Sefton
Children’s Physiotherapy Service
2nd Floor, Sefton Carers Centre
27-37 South Road
Waterloo
L22 5PE
Tel: 0151 252 5729
(Areas covered – L20, L21, L22, L23, L30, L31, L38, Sefton parts of L10)

This leaflet only gives general information. You must always discuss the individual treatment of your child with the appropriate member of staff. Do not rely on this leaflet alone for information about your child’s treatment.

This information can be made available in other languages and formats if requested.

PIAG: 294