Community specialist feeding service referrals

We consider referrals for children or young people:

• registered with a Lambeth or Southwark GP
• aged 3 to 19 years old

We cannot accept urgent referrals. Babies and children with a sudden deterioration in feeding skills may need to be admitted to hospital.

Who can refer

We only consider referrals from healthcare professionals.

We do not consider referrals from:

1. parents or carers
2. education professionals
3. social care professionals

Before making a referral

Before making a referral, please consider whether:

• the family or child wants to work on the child's eating and drinking
• the family or school have tried to address areas of concern, as we expect them to have been supported by a community healthcare professional and to have implemented advice or universal strategies for 3 months
• the family have the time and capacity to engage with the feeding team

Do not make a referral if:

• the child is under 3 years old and a referral to our health visiting service, ‘Positive mealtimes’ or the HENRY programme would be more appropriate
• the child or young person has an eating disorder and a referral to the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust's child and adolescent eating disorders service would be more appropriate
• you need us to complete an education, health and care needs assessment

How to make a referral

Complete the referral form, the feeding questionnaire and a 3-day food diary (Word 159Kb) and email it to gstt.communityfeeding@nhs.net.

Referrals from Guy's and St Thomas' or King's College London should be made on EPIC.

Incomplete referrals will be returned to the referrer.

Information to include in your referral

Your referral must include:

• information about the child's current eating and drinking abilities
• the child's weight and height.
• a completed 3-day food diary including the food and drinks offered to the child and how much of the food/drink the child has eaten.
• a completed restricted feeding questionnaire for parents
• details of the services the family have already accessed
• information on the strategies that the family have tried already