Community paediatrics clinics

This appointment will last about 75 minutes with one of our specialist nurses or doctors. We will ask you and your child questions about their medical history, development and any worries you have.

For younger children, we may do a short play activity while you watch. Older children might be asked to do some drawing and puzzles.

We will use what you tell us and what we see during the appointment to decide if your child needs to see a specialist. Usually, we don’t give a final diagnosis in this appointment, but if there are concerns, we will guide you to support while waiting for further assessment.

This appointment will last about 2 hours and usually involves two clinicians, like a doctor and a speech therapist or a psychologist and autism specialist.

While one clinician does a play-based assessment with your child, the other will ask you questions about your child and how they get along with others. For older children, you will be asked about what they were like when they were 4 or 5 years old. It can help to think about this time or look at old photos before the appointment to help you remember.

Most of the time, your child’s play-based assessment happens in a different room from you, but for younger children it can be in the same room if needed. Sometimes the assessments might happen on different days depending on what your child needs.

After the assessments, you will meet your child again while the clinicians talk about what they saw and heard. They will decide one of three things:

1. Your child has autism
2. Your child does not have autism
3. They need more information or time to decide

They will share their decision with you and talk about what support is available, no matter what the outcome is.

For more information about autism, please see: National Autistic Society (NAS).

This appointment usually takes around 2 hours. During the clinic, your child will do a coordination assessment called the Movement ABC. This involves fun, timed activities like balancing and moving with a therapist.

While your child is doing this assessment, the doctor will talk with you about your child’s development, medical history, coordination and how they manage everyday activities such as dressing, washing, eating, and school tasks.

Most of the time, your child’s assessment takes place in a separate room, but if needed it can be done in the same room with you present.

Afterwards, the doctor will examine your child. We suggest your child wears a T-shirt and shorts for this part, as it makes the examination easier. This check helps us look more closely at how your child moves to check if there are any other reasons for any difficulties.

Once both assessments are complete, you and your child will have a short break while the therapist and doctor review what they have seen and heard. Together, they will agree on one of four possible outcomes:

1. Your child has developmental coordination disorder (DCD).
2. Your child does not have DCD.
3. Your child shows some features of DCD, but we need more information or time before making a diagnosis.
4. Your child may need a referral to another clinic for further assessment or support.

The team will then share their decision with you, explain what it means, and talk about the next steps and support available for your child.

For more information about developmental coordination disorder, please see: Developmental Coordination Disorder - CanChild.

This is a statutory health check for children or young people living in care. The first check, called the Initial Health Assessment (IHA), happens within 20 days of going into care. If a child stays in care, they have a Review Health Assessment (RHA) every year if they are over 5 years old, and every 6 months if they are under 5.

The appointment lasts about an hour and is usually done by a doctor for young children or those with complex needs and by a specialist nurse for older children.

During the appointment, we ask about medical history, development, current health and mental health. The main goal is to listen to the child or young person, make sure they feel heard, and let them share any worries.

All children have a physical check and younger children have a development check, that uses play to help them feel safe and comfortable.

After the check, we write a detailed report with health recommendations for any needs found during the assessment.

For more information, please visit our Looked after children service website pages.

This clinic is for children who have sleep difficulties and developmental problems.

Before Coming to Clinic: Sleep Diary

Please keep a sleep diary for your child for one week before your appointment. You can find an example sleep diary on The Sleep Charity website.

Write down:

• Bedtime and when your child falls asleep
• Any times they wake up at night and how long they are awake
• Wake-up time in the morning
• Any naps during the day and how long they last

Email the completed diary to gstt.communitysleep@nhs.net with your child’s name and birth date.

Your Child's Sleep Clinic Appointment

The first visit lasts about 1 hour. A doctor who knows about children’s sleep problems will see your child.  The appointment will be at the Mary Sheridan Centre or Sunshine House.

During the appointment the doctor will:

• Ask about your child’s sleep, daily routine, and home life
• Ask about your child’s health and development
• Do a physical check if needed, which may include:
  • Looking at ears, nose, and throat
  • Listening to the chest with a stethoscope
  • Checking height and weight

After the appointment, we will work with you to make a sleep plan just for your child and family. The plan will be based on your child’s needs and what is important to your family.

Community bladder service

We support children and young people who have bladder problems such as daytime wetting or bedwetting.

Who will you see?

• Specialist nurses (for most clinics)
• Children’s doctors (for more complex problems) 

What to expect

Bladder diary
Before your child’s second appointment, we’ll ask you to keep a record of when they go to the toilet, how much they wee, and any accidents. This helps us understand your child’s bladder better.

First appointment
This could be in person, online or over the phone, lasts about 1 hour.

Assessment
We’ll ask about your child’s health and may do an examination (spine, nerves, legs, and sometimes genitals) if needed.

What happens next?

Depending on your child’s needs, we may:

• Give advice on healthy drinking, toileting, and bladder/bowel habits (urotherapy).
• Offer a bedwetting alarm.
• Suggest keeping a bladder and bowel diary.
• Arrange an ultrasound scan (to check the bladder and kidneys).
• Prescribe medicines if needed.
• Refer your child to a specialist clinic at Evelina Children’s Hospital if more tests are required.
• Keep in touch with you through follow-up phone or video calls.
• Provide a letter after each appointment. We can also send information to your child’s school SENCO if you would like.

Bedwetting alarm clinic

This clinic helps children and young people who wet the bed at night. The appointment lasts about 35 minutes with one of our child development workers.

Your child will:

• See and hear the alarm.
• Try out the equipment and ask questions.
• Learn how it can help them become dry at night.

Parents and carers will:

• see how the alarm works.
• plan together how to use it at home.
• talk about helpful routines for drinking and toileting.

After the appointment, you will borrow the alarm for a few months. A follow-up review will be arranged with the School Nursing team or the doctor you’ve already seen. Please remember to bring the alarm back to your review appointment.

Advice whilst waiting for your appointment

Whilst you are waiting for your appointment, you can support your child by following healthy bladder and bowel advice including drinking plenty, going to the toilet regularly and eating a varied, balanced diet. There is lots more useful information including resources for children and tips for managing constipation, wetting, sensory needs and more, at ERIC – The Children’s Bowel & Bladder Charity. 

This clinic lasts 1 hour. It is for children who may have worries about how they move, walk, or use their body. It is also for children with complex health needs, or those with a physical disability (new, changing, or already known).

The clinic runs at Mary Sheridan Centre and Sunshine House. You will meet a paediatrician (children’s doctor). You may also meet other team members, such as: a physiotherapist, an occupational therapist or other professionals, depending on your child’s needs.

During the clinic, your child will take part in play activities to help us understand how they move and use their body. While your child is doing this, the clinician will talk with you about your child’s development, health, and daily activities, such as playing, moving around, and managing at home or school. Your child will also have a physical check-up to look more closely at how they move. This helps us see if there is a reason for any difficulties.

After the assessment, the team will review all the information, including what you have told us and what we have observed. Sometimes we can explain things straight away. At other times, we may need to carry out further tests or refer your child to another specialist. At the end of the appointment, we will discuss our findings with you and agree on the next steps. This may include support, referrals, or follow-up appointments. We will also send you a written report.

This clinic helps children and young people who go to special educational needs (SEN) schools in Lambeth and Southwark. Some appointments happen at your child’s school, and some are done online.

You and your child can meet with a doctor and sometimes therapists to talk about your child’s health, development and wellbeing and discuss the support your child needs. A school staff member might also join the appointment if needed.

Children in specialist schools usually have health checks when they move from primary to secondary school and later to adult services (like in Year 6, Year 12, and Year 13). How often they have more appointments depends on their health needs.

This clinic lasts 1 hour and helps children and young people who have differences in their muscle tone (how stiff or floppy their muscles are). The clinic takes place at the Mary Sheridan Centre and is for children who live in Lambeth and Southwark. It is run by a paediatrician and physiotherapists.

In this clinic, we look at how your child moves and how their muscles are working. We think about how this affects everyday activities, such as walking, sitting, and using their hands. We will examine your child and talk with you about any concerns you may have. Together, we will set goals that are important for your child.

To help your child, we may suggest different treatments. These can include special splints or supports (called orthoses), medicines to help relax the muscles, and injections to help relieve muscle tightness, among others. Some children who need injections will be invited to a special clinic at the hospital called the Botulinum Toxin Injection Clinic. Before the appointment, we carefully plan where the injections will be given. After the injections, we will see your child again in this clinic to check how they are doing and to see if the treatment has helped. We will continue to follow your child over time and support their progress.

This clinic reviews the health and development for children and young people with Down Syndrome. Appointments are 45 minutes long. It takes place at Mary Sheridan Centre (Lambeth), Sunshine House (Southwark) or in Evelina Children’s Hospital. Children will come to this clinic around once a year or more often if needed.

In this clinic, the doctor will ask questions about your child’s health and progress. We will examine your child and may do a play-based developmental assessment. We will review your child’s blood test results, eye tests, hearing results and other clinic visits (such as heart or lung checks) and may ask for more checks to be done if needed. At the hospital clinic, we will coordinate your child’s annual vision, hearing and blood tests on the same day as needed.

We work with therapists (including physiotherapists, occupational therapists, speech and language therapists), dieticians and education professionals to help families support their child’s health and development.

For more information about Down Syndrome, please see: Down's Syndrome Association

This clinic is for children who were born very prematurely and/or had significant complications at birth. When your child is 12 months and 24 months old (corrected for early birth), a community paediatrician will check their health and development instead of a neonatal doctor. We work closely with speech therapists, physiotherapists, and occupational therapists.

The 12 month appointment lasts about 1 hour, and the 24 month appointment lasts about 1.5 hours. We will talk about how your child is doing, listen to any concerns you have and do play-based tests to see how your child is developing. We may suggest activities or extra support and sometimes more tests might be needed after the appointment.

If you have twins, it helps if two adults can come, so both children can be seen separately.  

 Your child has been referred to our team to find out why they might have hearing loss. The appointment usually takes 1 to 1.5 hours.

We will ask about your pregnancy, your child’s health, how they are developing, and your family’s medical history. It helps to ask family members about any hearing problems before the appointment.

We will examine your child and do some balance tests. Sometimes hearing loss is linked to other health issues, and we will talk about checking for these too.

After the appointment, we may suggest blood tests and a heart test (ECG), which can be done the same day at the hospital. Other tests might be arranged for another day.

We accept referrals from health professionals for children over 3 years old who have selective eating habits and live in Lambeth or Southwark. Referrals should include growth measurements, a food diary, a questionnaire, and proof that universal strategies have been tried.

For children living outside these areas, referrals can be considered by our complex feeding service if they meet the referral criteria.

The appointment at our Community Specialist Feeding Clinic lasts one hour and includes a Paediatrician, Dietitian, and Therapist (occupational therapist, speech therapist or Psychologist). Please bring food your child likes. We will also provide food to see how your child interacts with it, if they feel comfortable. During the appointment, we will measure your child, examine them, and discuss their diet and feeding habits in detail.

We provide nutrition advice to support healthy growth and fix any nutritional gaps. We may also arrange blood tests and give further advice based on the results. We offer guidance to help with selective eating, including a parent workshop with more information. Families may be invited to join group support or receive outreach help. Further referrals and assessments might be needed to keep supporting your child.

Please see the feeding service website pages for more details about this clinic.

This clinic helps young people with physical and learning disabilities move from children’s services to adult services.

From about age 14, we start talking about changes that will happen. This includes their body, feelings, becoming more independent, school or work, and learning to make choices. We also explain how adult healthcare will be different from children’s services.

We use tools like the SEN transition checklist (87Kb) and a communication passport (1.2Mb) to help guide these conversations.

A Transition Nurse helps lead the support and work with a team that may include doctors, therapists, psychologists, GPs, social workers, schools, and other support services.

This appointment will last about 1 hour with a community paediatrician and a genetics doctor. We run this clinic four times a year at two different centres: Sunshine House and Mary Sheridan Centre.

This clinic is for children who need care from both community paediatricians and the genetics team. We see children who might have genetic conditions, chromosome problems or foetal alcohol syndrome. We can arrange genetic tests and offer help with development during the appointment.

Who are the clinical psychology team?

• We are a team made up of clinical psychologists, trainee psychologists and assistant psychologists.

Who do we support?

• We support children and teenagers and their families who are open to the community paediatric service in Lambeth and Southwark. We only accept referrals from the community paediatric doctors in Lambeth and Southwark.
• We understand that emotional and behavioural difficulties can impact all areas of daily life for a child and their family. We can help by listening to your concerns, trying to understand your child’s experiences and support you to find a way forward. 
• We provide support to children and young people who have psychological/emotional/behavioural needs in the context of their neurodevelopmental or health condition

What support do we offer?

• We offer individual support and group support
• In our appointments, we may speak to families together, or we may ask to talk to members of the family on their own.
• We are flexible with the type of support we offer, and can use different types of psychological approaches depending on the needs of the family we are working with.
• We can do individual appointments face to face, over the phone or by video call, they usually last up to 1 hour.
• We usually start by offering 4-6 sessions.