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Community child health referrals for neuro-development

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ESNEFT community paediatrics autism and ADHD referrals

In ESNEFT Community Paediatrics we accept referrals for the following:

  • Developmental delay in pre-school child
  • Physical disability, cerebral palsy or other complex health needs
  • Epilepsy in children with known neurodevelopmental problems
  • Sleep difficulties in children with a diagnosed neuro-developmental disorder only
  • Medication for ADHD (must have diagnosis)
  • Pre-school Social Communication difficulties / Autism (Diagnosis only)
  • Autism Assessment (Diagnosis Only) – please see further information on how to refer below.
  • ADHD Assessment – please see further information on how to refer below.

Important notice: We are not an acute service, please refer to the Children’s assessment unit if you have any concerns regarding sudden/rapidly changing presentation of your child.

All referrals for any community paeds concern should be received on the new updated ESNEFT Community Paeds Referral form:

ESNEFT Community paeds referral form – ESNEFT Document library

Referrals for Neurodevelopment disorders (Autism and ADHD)

In north east Essex, there are two referral pathways for neurodevelopmental disorder diagnosis (Autism and ADHD):

1. The Under 5’s Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) pathway

We will accept Autism referrals for under 5’s who are not yet in school where there are significant developmental delay or social skills difficulties. This includes consideration for an ASD assessment. The referrals can be sent in by Health visitors, GP’s and Early Years Practitioners and need to be submitted to us on the ‘ESNEFT Community Paeds Referral form’ (please download the form below).

For under 5’s who have already started school then this can be sent in either by the School or another lead professional as long as the parent carer form is attached. (Please find further explanation and forms to download below.)

Please note the North East Essex Community Paediatric Service do NOT assess for ADHD in under 5-year-olds. This is because NICE Guidelines advise that ADHD should not be assessed until ages 5+ due to development milestones.

2. Neurodevelopmental Disorder Diagnostic (NDD) pathway for 5-18 years old.

This is for children and young people between the ages of 5 and18 years old (up to 18th birthday). Please see further explanation of the referral process and the forms to download below.

Who can make a ADHD or ASD referral for my child?

From 30 September 2024 ESNEFT Community Paeds referrals for Autism or ADHD were asked to be submitted by their school if they were in education. However, this has now reverted back to continue accepting referrals from all other lead professionals as well as education.

Consultations with primary care are still underway and planned to continue until 1st March 2025 in order to roll out this new process. We encourage all referrers to use the new form and process but will be flexible for this period of time.

Please see a list of all the lead professionals that can make a referral for your child:

  • Special Educational Needs Coordinators (SENCO)
  • Tutors or Teachers at schools or colleges
  • Educational psycho Specialist Education Services (if accessing)
  • Alternative Tuition Service (if accessing)
  • Elective Home Education Team
  • Private Tutor
  • School Nurse
  • GP
  • Health Visitor
  • Paediatrician
  • Psychiatrist
  • Nurses
  • Clinical, counselling, or forensic psychologists
  • Occupational therapists
  • Speech and language therapists
  • Primary mental health worker
  • Mental health professionals
  • Social worker
  • Early help practitioner
  • Family support worker

Because of rising demand and longer delays for children, we need to make sure children, young people and families get appropriate support at the earliest opportunity. To make sure we prioritise those that need it most, we now need more information in order to accept a referral, which includes from both parents and schools (if the child is in education).

We want to avoid delays with having to go back and ask for additional information and will then reduce the time taken to complete assessments and reduce the backlog.

Any referrals to assess for ADHD or Autism, now need to be received together with the following forms:

  • ESNEFT Community Paeds referral form
  • Parent Form
  • School Report (if the child is in education)

If the child is not in Education or is home schooled, then a School Report is not required.

A referral will not be accepted if:

  • Old forms continue to be used after 1st March 2025
  • The necessary forms are not submitted together, or
  • If the information provided is not sufficient to meet the criteria for acceptance

Referral form, Parent/Carer Form and School report forms to download

They are available to download here electronically.

Paper forms can be printed, handwritten, scanned and sent to us by email as an attachment. Alternatively, you can download this as a digital word document to type into, save the file and send by email as an attachment.

You can also download the NDD Referral Guidance Document below which will give you more information on the process and guide you through completing the forms.

ESNEFT Community paeds referral form – ESNEFT Document library

  • This is the main referral form for any Community Paeds referral to ESNEFT, whether for
  • Neurodiversity (Autism or ADHD assessment) or Neurodisability.
  • This is for children aged 5 – 19 years for those either in or out of education.
  • The referrer should be one of the lead professionals named in the above list.
  • This form must be submitted along with the completed Parent carer form (and School report if the child is in education)
  • All referrals to be sent to compaeds-referrals@esneft.nhs.uk

ESNEFT parent carer form – ESNEFT Document library

  • This form is compulsory for any referral for Autism or ADHD assessment. It must be completed by the parent or carer of the child and given to the referrer so they can send it to us with their ESNEFT Community Paeds Referral form.
  • If a young person is over 16 they can choose to complete this form themselves, (only completing the sections that are relevant with the information they know.)

ESNEFT School Report Form – ESNEFT Document library

  • This form is compulsory for a School to complete to send with any referral for Autism or ADHD assessment. This form needs to be received if the child is registered in a school or college, aged 5-18 (even if they are not currently able to attend).
  • If the child is not in Education or is home schooled, then a School Report is not required.
  • Section 4 and 5 do not have to be completed if the information has already been given in the previous sections.
  • They should be completed by an individual with the best professional knowledge of the child or young person, who knows them well.
  • A college who does not know the child well enough does not have to complete Section 2 if they don’t have that information.
  • This form must be submitted along with the completed ESNEFT Community Paeds Referral form and Parent carer form to compaeds-referrals@esneft.nhs.uk

North East Essex NDD referral guidance document – ESNEFT Document library

  • This document is a helpful guide to explain about ADHD and Autism, the ESNEFT process further, help with completing the forms and will signpost to further supportive information.
  • This guide will support lead professionals and parents/carers in completing the referral forms.

What happens after a referral is received by ESNEFT?

When we receive a referral on all the right forms, one of our Community Paediatric team reviews it. They make sure it has all the information we need.

If the Autism or ADHD referral is accepted:

We add the child to the waiting list. We send a letter to you to confirm that we have accepted the referral.

Please note that current wait times are long, please refer to our current updated wait times page for more information.

While you wait to be seen, you can access support for you and child. We have information about support organisations on these pages:

Support for neuro-developmental disorders – East Suffolk & North Essex NHS Foundation Trust

Children’s support in Colchester and Tendring – East Suffolk & North Essex NHS Foundation Trust

If an Autism or ADHD referral is not accepted

All referrals are triaged, but not all will be accepted based on clinical criteria.

If your referral is not accepted, you can still access support. We will send you a letter to confirm that the referral has not been accepted and will guide you to get in touch with the Essex Local Offer website. (Opens in a new window) This holds lots of information on how to contact organisations to get access to help and support for your child.

If the situation changes or symptoms become worse then parents can request a re-referral again later but will need to evidence that they have attempted to access some of the support from organisations in the Essex Local Offer website. (Opens in a new window) first.

 

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