Who can refer
We accept referrals from paediatricians from Evelina London Children’s Hospital and from other Trusts. Any concerns arising while waiting for an appointment needs to be directed to the referrer and local services.
We cannot accept urgent referrals. Babies and children with a sudden deterioration in feeding skills may require hospital admission.
This is a specialist tertiary service so there must be evidence of local input before referral and while under our service. Children must remain open to paediatrician – general, community or specialist as well as dietician and therapists (OT, SALT or psychology). Referrals without evidence of this are likely to be rejected.
Examples of local input include
- Local speech and language therapy swallowing assessment or feeding evaluation
- Local dietitian nutritional assessment
- Input from occupational therapist or local psychologist
- Further specialist assessment with ongoing care and input from the local multidisciplinary team which may include working with local school or nursery
- Physical examination and blood tests. Occasionally, distance, other needs or patient preference mean that we will provide a virtual appointment rather than a face-to-face appointment.
Who we see
We see children and young people:
- aged between 3 and 16 years old
- living in south London, Kent, Surrey or Sussex
Making a referral
All referrals must be completed by a paediatrician who will continue to provide ongoing health monitoring and safeguarding input.
All referrals must include:
- an assessment report by a local dietitian
- evidence that the family have been supported to implement feeding strategies
- a named health or education professional who will support with implementing feeding strategies locally at home and school and a local team who will continue monitoring nutritional risk and growth
- recent height and weight with centiles, sex, ethnicity, referrer's contact email and list of all foods accepted
- school or nursery information
- nutritional blood tests, if available
- evidence that the family is supported locally in addition to their feeding needs, for example with other medical concerns, sleep, daily activities, speech and language and social care (this is important because eating difficulties cannot be managed in isolation)
A referral to a local child and adolescent mental health Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder service must have been considered, if appropriate.
How to refer
To refer a patient, please complete the feeding service referral form (Word 143KB) and email it to gstt.elchpaedneuroreferrals@nhs.net
Alternatively you can post it to:
Feeding Service
Floor 2
Becket House
Evelina London Children’s Hospital
St Thomas’ Hospital
Westminster Bridge Road
London SE1 7EH