Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

There are several different areas of work within CCH:-

Child Development Team – this team provide an assessment service for pre school aged children who have delays in more than one area of development. It is important that children who need this highly specialist service can be assessed promptly. All children should have a recent developmental assessment, usually by a health visitor, documented on the referral. Referrals for children with a delay in a single developmental area will be redirected to an appropriate allied healthcare professional. This team will not see typically developing children with behaviour that challenges or difficulty with sleep.

Complex Disability Team – this team will regularly review children who have one or more health conditions which affects their physical and intellectual development, resulting in disability. This includes children and young people with cerebral palsy and genetic conditions. This team will see children of all ages.

Hearing Impairment – this multi-professional team provides hearing assessments and developmental support for children and families affected by a hearing impairment.

Visual Impairment – this multi-professional team provides Functional Visual Assessments in line with best practice guidance from the Visual Impairment Network for Children and Young People.

CECYPS – this stands for Care Experienced Children and Young People. The doctors working in this team provide medical assessments and reports for children and young people who are living in care, such as those in kinship care, foster care or residential care. These doctors are also members of multi-professional adoption and fostering panels.

Referrals to most areas of CCH can only come from health professionals. Referrals to the hearing and visual impairment services can also come from specialist teachers who are members of these multi professional teams.

The neurodevelopmental team use this referral pathway: Click here 

Primary care professionals can refer via SCI Gateway to their local community child health department. These are based in Perth, Angus and Dundee. Please note that the ‘paediatric neurodevelopmental team’ is based in CAMHS and referrals sent there will not reach us.

All referrals are reviewed by a senior doctor and prioritised in order of need. Waiting times vary but are usually in the region of a few months for a pre school neurodevelopment appointment.

It can feel frustrating waiting on an appointment. A good starting point would be to talk to your health visitor or family nurse as they can provide support for many common areas of difficulty, such as sleep and managing behaviour which challenges.

Additionally, you may find our ‘resources’ and ‘courses for parents’ pages helpful.