Physiotherapy Service

What our service does

We offer physiotherapy to children and young people with disabilities. We provide highly specialist physiotherapy assessments, treatment and advice.

Physiotherapy is a therapeutic intervention which helps with the physical effects of the child’s disability. Physiotherapists use movement, exercises, manual techniques (manipulation) equipment and advice to treat and manage physical problems. 

Every child is unique and the amount and type of physiotherapy they need will vary as they grow and develop or if their condition changes. For these reasons we offer a flexible service which allows us to tailor our support to children as their circumstances change. 

We work as part of a multi-disciplinary and multi-agency team in order to ensure the child and their family receive co-ordinated care based on the Team Around The Child approach. 

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Where the service is located and the areas it covers

We work in a variety of settings depending on the child’s needs. Physiotherapists run sessions and clinics from the Child Development Centre in St. Ann’s Hospital but also outreach to nurseries, children’s centres, schools and children’s own homes. Some of our therapists are based in the boroughs special schools. Find out more about the service on their website:

• Whittington Health: Children's Community Physiotherapy Service - Haringey (external link)

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Who our service provides for

Our service provides for children who live or go to school in the London Borough of Haringey.

We see children with neuro-disabilities such as cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophies or gross motor delay.

We see children who live in Haringey from birth up to 19 years of age.

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How a child or young person can start using the service

We accept referrals from any medical professional and GPs.

We have a waiting list of between 4-18 weeks depending on the urgency of the child’s problem.

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How decisions are made about eligibility for our service

Our service provides therapy to children with neuro-disabilities. Our therapists are trained to work in this speciality and a senior therapist will triage (decide the urgency of) referrals we receive.

We will send a letter to parents informing them if we are accepting their referral or if we cannot do so we will outline the reasons.

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How we communicate with service users and how they are involved in decision making/planning

Our therapy goals are planned with the child and their caregivers. We explain the assessment and treatment to the child and family.

We recognise that many of our service users need alternative forms of communication as they may not speak English or may use assistive devices to communicate. We have access to an interpreting service covering many of the languages spoken in the local community. We also work with specialist speech and language therapists to facilitate communication and understanding where children have communication disorders or are non-verbal.

We welcome feedback from our service users through surveys and listening to feedback and comments. We then use this information when planning changes and improvements to the service.

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How accessible our service is

Our child development centre is situated on the ground floor and is wheelchair accessible with wheelchair accessible toilets and treatment rooms.  It has been judged to be a user and child friendly environment by external agencies such as the Care Quality Commission.

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Who a service user should contact if they want to raise a concern or complain about something

A family who wishes to raise a concern or complain about something can contact

The lead for children’s physiotherapy, Steph Hynes,

c/o The Child Development Centre,
St. Ann’s Hospital,
St. Ann’s Road,
London N15 3TH.

Telephone: 0208 442 6746 (Centre reception) or 07776 472 197
Email: stephanie.hynes@nhs.net

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