We are a team of community Occupational Therapists, assistant practitioners and therapy assistants who are based across two sites in Sefton, North Liverpool. We work with children from birth up to 19 years in a variety of settings including clinics, at home, in nurseries, mainstream and special schools.
There are several pathways within our service: Speech, Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy (SPOT); Motor Skills; Sensory; Special Schools; and Equipment and Small Aids. Children may be referred to more than one of these pathways.
SPOT Pathway
The team is made up of Speech and Language Therapists, Physiotherapists and Occupational Therapists. Children may be referred for a SPOT assessment if there are concerns about how their development is progressing.
During an assessment within a SPOT clinic, we may assess any or all of the following areas:
- Developmental progress
- Patterns and quality of movement
- Joint range of movement, muscle tone and muscle strength
- Posture and positioning
- Hand function
- Play skills
- Communication (in combination with other difficulties)
- Functional difficulties including feeding and dressing
The therapists who work in the SPOT team are specially trained and very experienced in treating babies and toddlers.
The SPOT Team works flexibly to support families to access the service, providing appointments in a relaxed and welcoming environment for children and parents/carers.
Motor Skills Pathway
We work with children and young people to find solutions to reduce the difficulties they face and help them to get the most from life. We support children who are having difficulties with everyday activities that can have an impact on daily life.
We will help to identify a child or young person’s difficulties in their daily life by assessing their needs, using play and purposeful activities to help them achieve their goals and become as independent as possible. We may also assess for small aids/equipment and recommend minor adaptations to support children and young people’s independence.
The Occupational Therapist may look at the following areas:
- Fine motor skills
- Coordination and organisational skills
- Classroom skills e.g., pencil and scissors skills
- Visual perception skills
- Self-care and independence skills
- Posture and positioning
Sensory Pathway
The aim of the Occupational Therapy sensory team is to raise awareness and understanding of the sensory needs in children and young people, so that their needs can be positively supported in the home, at school/nursery and in the community.
What we currently offer:
- Parent/carer workshops
- School staff training
- Nursery staff training
- Health professionals training
- Bookable support consultations for parents/carers, teaching staff, nursery staff & health professionals following attendance at a workshop or training session
- Email and telephone support and advice
- Sensory resources loan library
- Special Schools Pathway
We work with children and young people who have complex needs and attend special schools within Sefton.
We work closely with physiotherapy colleagues to provide 24-hour postural management programmes, assessing and recommending specialist equipment, at home and school, to support posture and address manual handling issues.
We assess and recommend support for your child to access everyday activities including eating, drinking, bathing, and sleeping. We also assess and recommend specialist seating to support access to education.
Equipment and Small Aids Service
We assess for specialist equipment for the home, nursery and school and may recommend equipment for seating, sleeping, bathing, toileting, or manual handling.
This equipment is supplied by social services, education and health via Sefton Community Equipment Stores, and is monitored regularly, checking for safety, suitability, and general maintenance by the team. Depending on the complexity of a child’s needs, the amount of equipment will vary.
We may also recommend the use of small aids to support everyday activities.
These are recommended with the expectation that they will be purchased by home, nursery or school and include:
- Sloped writing boards – used to support a child’s posture when writing
- Dynamic air cushions – to improve a child’s sitting posture, to support with attention and concentration and for children who seek movement
- Pencil grips – to encourage a more efficient pencil grasp, to alter the pressure applied when using a pencil
- Specialist scissors – to improve grasp of scissors
- Cutlery – to improve grasp of cutlery to encourage more efficient coordination of hands together
- Dressing aids such as button hooks – to encourage independence when dressing
We also carry out environmental assessments for minor adaptations which can include grab rails, stair rails and ramps. If more extensive adaptations are required, we will liaise with local services as needed.
Contact Us
Our office hours are Monday to Friday from 8.30am to 5pm (not including Bank Holidays). Depending on where you live, you can contact the Occupational Therapy Service in your area.
North Sefton Team:
(Areas covered – L37, PR8, PR9)
Children’s Occupational Therapy Service,
Ainsdale Centre for Health and Wellbeing
164 Sandbrook Road
Ainsdale
Southport
PR8 3RJ
Tel: 0151 282 4846 or 0151 282 4969 (Sensory Service)
South Sefton Team
(Areas covered – L20, L21, L22, L23, L30, L31, L38, Sefton parts of L10)
Blossom House
Park Road
Waterloo
Liverpool
L22 3XE
Tel: 0151 252 5836 or 0151 282 4969 (Sensory Service)
Where are we?
Our team is located across two main sites in Sefton covering North Sefton community (Formby to Southport area) and South Sefton community (Hightown to Bootle to Lydiate).
- The North Sefton team office is based at Ainsdale Centre for Health and Wellbeing (164 Sandbrook Road, Ainsdale, PR8 3RW). Clinics are run in Southport Centre for Health and Wellbeing (44-46 Hoghton Street, Southport, PR9 0PQ)
- The South Sefton team office is based at Blossom House (Park Road, Waterloo, L22 3XE) where we also run our clinics from