NHS Islington...

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School Health Special Needs

Who is the service is for?

Children and young people over the age of 5 who attend school and live in Islington. The service is for children with complex health care needs associated with their disability. This includes children attending local special schools (2-19 years) as well as students with complex needs in mainstream schools.

What does the service do?

• We provide healthcare from a multi-disciplinary team including dieticians, occupational therapists, paediatricians, physiotherapists, specialist school nurses and speech and language therapists.
• We offer assessment and diagnosis of children who have severe and complex delays in their development (or disorders).
• Where appropriate we will arrange a programme of treatment and care. We do this in partnership with parents, education and social care colleagues in order to meet the needs of the child.
• We will share information with other agencies, such as the child's school and GP. However, we will ask for consent before we share information.

How to access the service

There is an open referral system. This means that parents, GPs, Health Visitors, Paediatricians, Special Educational Needs Coordinators or other professionals may refer the child to the service. However it is helpful to involve the professionals who already know the child.

Referrals should be sent to:
School Health Special Needs Service
Northern Health Centre
580 Holloway Road
London N7 6LB

Referrals are initially reviewed by a consultant paediatrician and then discussed at a multi-disciplinary meeting if appropriate. Children who attend Special Schools are generally referred by their school.