Child Development Service
What is it?
Barnet Child Development Service is a collaboration between local teams (medical, nursing, therapy and education) with expertise in child development from several agencies. By joint discussion at senior level of all referral, we aim to ensure that each child is seen by the right people in the right place.
How does it work?
All referrals can only be made with the agreement of parents/carers of children who are resident in Barnet.
These referrals for any concern relating to ‘child development’ are discussed at a weekly multi-disciplinary intake meeting.
This meeting usually includes representatives from Speech & Language Therapy, Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, Pre-School Teaching, Specialist Advisory Teachers, Neurodevelopmental Paediatrics, Community Nursing and Disabled Children’s Social Workers.
Each referral is discussed briefly, and a decision is made,based on the information included on the referral form, as to whether it can be accepted, and if so, by which service(s).
What does this mean for families?
Where it is clear from the initial referral that a child is going to need input from several services, they do not have to wait until they have seen one service in order to get on the waiting list for another. This shortens waiting times.
It will be clear to the family and the referrer which service(s) will offer the initial contact. Subsequent involvement of additional services will take place if appropriate without needing further referrals.
What does this mean for referrers?
You will know that your referral is being considered by a senior multi-disciplinary and multi-agency forum.
You will only have to complete one referral form, which you can download from the section below, even if the child needs to access several of the above services.
How to refer?
For an optimal response, please complete the referral form 
(PDF: 72KB) and also attach all other relevant reports/documents.
Please see the referral information page for more detailed guidance.
For confidentiality reasons, the referral form can not be sent electronically. Please
print and complete it by hand and send by post to one of the services you are seeking for the child
using their contact details (PDF: 47KB)
Email this pageLast modified by: Steve Lawlor on 02/02/2010