Accessing our service

The only way to access our service is for the childs/young persons Doctor, Nurse, or other Health Care Professional to make a referral. Referrals cannot be accepted from anyone other than a Doctor, Nurse or Health Care Professional.

Once a referral has been received the Paediatric Psychology team will assess if we are the correct team to best help. The below table highlights the inclusion and exclusion criteria for a referral to Paediatric Psychology.

 Referral Inclusion Criteria (one of the following):  

  • Child/young person formally diagnosed with a chronic, long-term physical condition (General Paediatrics YDH).
  • Child/young person formally diagnosed with one of the following conditions: – Oncological condition, Cystic Fibrosis, Diabetes, (MPH).
  • Has a diagnosed Palliative Condition (MPH and YDH).

And is

  • Currently under the age of 18 or under 19 for palliative care.
  • Under the care of a Paediatrician at Yeovil District Hospital, Musgrove Park Hospital or Royal United Hospital.
  • Referral to Psychology has been discussed and agreed with the child/family concerned.
 Referral Exclusion Criteria (one or more of the following):

  • Significant levels of risk and/or where multi-disciplinary mental health team support likely to be needed (e.g. active suicidal ideation/deliberate self-harm/eating disorders).
  • Primary difficulty associated with ASD, ADHD, continence and/or Learning difficulty.
  • Mental Health difficulties not thought to be directly related to physical illness.  Referral to other specialist services should be considered for these young people e.g. CAMHS.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If it is decided that we are the best team to help we will be in contact to add the child/family member to our waiting list. Unfortunately, it is difficult to estimate a current waiting time. Once the child/family member has reached the top of the waiting list, we will be in touch to arrange an appointment.

The first appointment will last approximately one hour. In this appointment, we will ask about the situation and try to build up a picture of the difficulties and how we can best help. At the end of the first session a joint decision will be made as to whether:

  • More appointments would be beneficial
  • No further appointments would be necessary
  • It would be beneficial for a referral to be made to a different service that may be of more help.

If it is decided that we are not the best team to help, we will inform the referrer (either the Doctor, Nurse, or other Healthcare Professional). The referrer can then create a plan going forward about other alternatives.