The Starting Well Service in Worcestershire brings together teams of staff who provide help and support to children, young people and families. The service provides support to expectant mums, new born babies, school aged children and teenagers and work to encourage development and progress.

Staff within the Starting Well service are trained to help overcome emotional, mental and physical issues. There is a telephone advisory service for parents who have children under the age of 5 seeking advice on their child’s health and development. There are other online resources such as CHAT Health, young people can access for advice and support.

We work very closely with our partner agencies to enrich the mix of skills and strengthen our position as the ‘provider of choice’. Working within the ‘Starting Well Service are Health Visitors, School Health Nurses, Specialist Looked after Children's Nurses, Nursery Nurses, Health Care Support Workers and Breastfeeding Support.

Starting Well Service (Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust)

Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that includes a persistent pattern of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity that is more extreme than is typically observed in children at a similar age of development.

Who can make a referral for an ADHD assessment?

Referrals to the Worcestershire Community Paediatric Service for an ADHD assessment (children aged 5½ - 18 years old), can be made by parents or carers, staff working in educational settings and health professionals. Parents/carers and professionals will need to work together to complete the same referral form. 

A referral should be made only once reasonable steps have already been made to support the young person and family in line with the Graduated Response for Neurodivergent Children and Young People.

The full referral criteria can be found on the Health and Care Trust’s website:

I think my child might have ADHD | Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust (hacw.nhs.uk)

Across Herefordshire and Worcestershire, there is a collection of NHS services that specifically support children and young people between the ages of 5 to 18 years with their emotional wellbeing and mental health called Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (or CAMHS for short).

Provided by Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust, CAMHS is made up of doctors, nurses and other medical staff who work in a number of different teams. These people are trained to help children, young people and their families who are experiencing mental health difficulties.

Child and Adolescent Mental Health (CAMHS) (Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust)

Their website has information for parents and carers: Helpful information for parents and carers | Herefordshire and Worcestershire CAMHS

Information for people who work with children and young people and have concerns about their mental health Informational for teachers and other professionals | Herefordshire and Worcestershire CAMHS

Details about the services they offer: Services | Herefordshire and Worcestershire CAMHS

Community Paediatricians are doctors experienced in child health who see children outside hospital. They see children for a wide variety of reasons, including those with long-term disability (e.g. Cerebral Palsy, learning disability), children with developmental delay, those with neurodevelopmental conditions (e,g, ADHD and Autism), children who are being fostered or adopted and children with sensory impairments such as visual difficulties or hearing loss. They try to run clinics locally, rather than in hospital, to make them as convenient as possible for families.

Community paediatrics (Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust)

There are three Child Development Centres (CDC) across the county (Redditch, Kidderminster and Worcester City) that provide services to children with additional needs.

The Child Development Centres (CDC) themselves are resource buildings containing a number of rooms used by clinicians working with children for clinics and groups. One of the core services running out of these buildings are the Child Development Centre groups, run by Specialist Nursery Nurses with support, intervention and supervision from other professionals such as Speech and Language Therapists and Occupational Therapists.

CDC | Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust

The Child Development Team (CDT) is a group of professionals from health and care, working with pre-school children with additional needs and is led by the health service. Representatives from these professional groups meet to briefly discuss the referred children to identify their needs and develop a coordinated plan and identify services which may be appropriate for them.

Child Development Teams (Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust)

It is recommended that a child or young person with diabetes is looked after by a specialist team of professionals in paediatric diabetes.

Your child will be seen in clinic at either Worcestershire Royal, the Alexandra Hospital or Kidderminster Hospital and Treatment Centre every three months for review by your Consultant, paediatric diabetes specialist nurse and dietician. The team psychologist may also be present during clinic appointments.

Children's Diabetes Services (Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust)

Worcestershire Community Dental Services is part of Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust and provide NHS dental care for patients who need additional support.

Community Dental Services (Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust)

Orchard Service is a Children’s Community Nursing and Palliative Care Team that covers Worcestershire. The child must be under a Worcestershire GP to be able to access the service. They are a mixed team consisting of nurses, a clinical psychologist, a social worker, a play specialist and carers. The team provides care to patients with a long term complex health need and their families. This can include end of life care in a child’s home.

• Orchard Service North (Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust)
• Orchard Service South (Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust)

A paediatric continence nurse can be found within the adult continence team.

Continence Adult Service HWHCT NHS

The DCO helps the needs of the child to be better understood, the DCO supports joined up working between Health Services, Education and Local Authorities for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities.

Designated Clinical Officer (Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust)

You can find contact details for the DCO plus other SEND related officers in the Herefordshire & Worcestershire ICB here: Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) :: Herefordshire and Worcestershire Integrated Care System (hwics.org.uk)

Some children will have problems eating and chewing and therefore may not get the nutrition they need. A dietician will advise about special diets, supplements and food in general.

The EEG (Electroencephalography) service offers departmental recordings of routine, sleep and overnight ambulatory EEG to adults and children. A mobile service is offered to visit clients with learning disabilities and challenging behaviours at home or in school or day centres if a visit to hospital is too stressful.

Routine eye tests are offered to newborn babies and children to identify any problems early on in their development.

Although serious vision problems during childhood are rare, early testing ensures any issues are picked up and managed as early as possible. This website provides lots of information about what tests are available and what to look out for.

You should speak to your GP or health visitor if you have any concerns about your child's vision at any stage.

Eyes tests for children (NHS)

The Integrated Community Equipment Service (ICES) supplies equipment to meet assessed needs of people with disabilities, to maintain their health and independence within the community. Equipment is also provided to facilitate safe discharges, prevent admission and support End of Life care. Equipment can only be ordered by qualified clinicians.

NHS: Integrated Community Equipment Service

Children and young people may receive a continuing care package if they have needs arising from disability, accident or illness that can't be met by existing universal or specialist services alone.

NHS continuing healthcare (NHS)

Ophthalmology is the treatment of disorders of the eye and vision by specialist doctors and surgeons.

Ophthalmology (Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust) 

The Healthy Child Programme (DH 2009) supports that all reception aged children should have their hearing tested. Healthcare Support Workers in School Health across Worcestershire are now required to undertake a screen of children’s hearing, in reception year, throughout all state maintained schools in Worcestershire. The main reason for screening children’s hearing at this age is to ensure that all children have satisfactory hearing for learning in school.

School Aged Hearing/Audiology Service (Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust)

Does my child need a hearing test?

If you're wondering if your child needs a hearing test (before the universal screening in reception year at school), there is useful information on Worcestershire's Acute Trust website which list the concerns you may have or should be aware of.

Does my child need a hearing test? (Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust)

Paediatric Audiology - Paediatric testing

Within audiology they can provide diagnostic paediatric assessments carried out by fully qualified audiologists in sound proof rooms.

They have a variety of paediatric tests at their disposal depending on the child's chronological and developmental age.

School Aged Hearing/Audiology Service (Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust)

Neurology is the study of the nervous system and the diagnosis of conditions that affect it. The nervous system comprises the brain, spinal cord, nerves and muscles. Paediatric Neurologists are Paediatricians with an extra qualification in Neurology and work in the Acute hospital specialising in Neurology. They have expertise in a wide range of disorders including: Brain and spinal injury, brain and spinal tumours, cerebrovascular disease, epilepsy, infections of the brain and spinal cord, movement disorders, neurogenetic disorders, neuroinflammatory disorders and neuromuscular disorders.

Children are referred to the Paediatric Neurologist by their GP or A&E if a child is showing new symptoms of neurological distress. Some of these symptoms require partnership working with Birmingham Children’s Hospital.

Neurology Service at Birmingham Children's Hospital

Paediatric Occupational Therapy offer services for children and young people who may be experiencing difficulties or have a disability that impacts on daily life. This could involve self-care, play and school skills such as writing and organisation.

If your child finds things tricky when participating in daily occupations at home or in school, the service run an Advice line for parent carers where the Occupational Therapists will try to provide advice, strategies and tips to try at home or school or refer to other appropriate support.

The Advice line is open every Wednesday 9:00am to 12:00pm and Thursday 1:00pm to 4:00pm, and the number is: 07562 436633.

Please note, the Advice line is not for waiting list enquiries or to check whether a referral has been accepted.

Paediatric Occupation Therapy (Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust)

Paediatric Physiotherapists work with children and young people and are specialist practitioners who have the right skills and specific knowledge to deliver appropriate care and education to encourage family involvement. Paediatric Physiotherapists specialise in the treatment of children and have detailed knowledge of a number of factors. A Physiotherapist is trained to provide assessment and treatment in overcoming movement and physical  difficulties such as problems of balance, coordination, sitting, standing and walking.

Paediatric physiotherapy (Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust)

The overall aim of the Special School Nurse is to facilitate on-going care and management of children with disabilities. This is done by establishing the health needs of individual children in the special school and supporting parents and educational staff to meet these needs to promote best outcomes for children.

Special School Nurses work within the special school setting to support the health and development of children with special needs. The team provides Health Education to promote healthy lifestyles and support teaching staff with children’s medical needs and administration of medication. 

Special school Nursing (Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust)

This is a general NHS Health and Care Trust website, aimed at young people, please note it is not specifically for children and young people with SEND. 

Know your stuff (Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust)

The Children’s Speech and Language Therapy Service provides evidence-based services that anticipate and respond to the needs of children and young people who experience speech, language, communication or swallowing difficulties in Worcestershire and beyond.

From 16-25 the children’s speech and language therapy service are not centrally commissioned unless the child is in a specialist provision or known to Umbrella.  However parents can still contact the service for initial advice and signposting.

Speech, language and communication pathway: The Balanced System® speech, language and communication pathway

SALT website: Children’s Speech and Language Therapy Service | Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust

The Umbrella Pathway is a diagnostic pathway that provides assessment and diagnosis of children and young people who present with neuro-developmental disorders due to Autism Spectrum Conditions. It is a multi-professional team that consists of Community Paediatricians, Clinical Psychologists, Speech and Language Therapists, Occupational Therapists and Specialist Autism/Complex Communication Needs Teachers. Some or all of these professionals may be involved in each assessment process.

The purpose of the Umbrella Pathway is to assess whether a child or young person has Autism or not. Part of the assessment process through the multi-professional team is to signpost to other appropriate services for help and support both during the assessment and following the assessment.

Umbrella pathway (Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust)

The Newborn Hearing Screening Programme (NHSP) aims to identify any hearing impairment in newborn babies. NHSP offers all parents in England the opportunity to have their baby's hearing tested shortly after birth.

Universal Neonatal Screening (Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust)

The wheelchair, posture and mobility service is a county-wide service offering assessment, provision and ongoing maintenance of wheelchairs and specialised seating to people with a high level of need. The service is based at Crown Lane, Wychbold and is made up of occupational therapists, physiotherapists, rehabilitation engineers and technicians. The clinical team is fully supported by an administrative team.

NHS: Wheelchair, Posture & Mobility Services