Occupational therapy for children: Inner London
Working in partnership with you: supporting children and young people to participate in what they need and want to do.
CYPOT mission statement
We provide occupational therapy services for children and young people to enhance their engagement, performance, and independence in relevant everyday activities. We work together with families, schools and other services to achieve their goals.
Here are some programmes to practice at home. If your child’s difficulties continue contact us for a referral.
Programmes and Support
Dressing
Feeding
- Learning to use a spoon
- Setting up a mealtime
- Working towards new foods – food chaining
- Learning to use a knife & fork
Handwriting & hand skills
- Setting up for handwriting
- Letter formation
- Pencil grasp and hand strengthening
- Pencil pressure
- Scissor skills
- Pre-writing multisensory programme
Toileting
- Bottom wiping programme
- Steps to toilet training
- Toilet training books, songs and apps
- Toilet training considerations
Gross Motor skills
Occupational therapy programmes: record form
It can take several months to set up and establish a consistent programme, so give yourself time to work this into weekly routines. After completing the advice and activities in these programmes, if you feel you still need support after three months, we welcome a re-referral. To re-refer, please complete a new referral form with the attached ‘OT Record form’ to show how you used the recommended programmes and any difference this has made.
Please note: we will not accept a re-referral without a new referral form completed, and the ‘OT Record form’ to show evidence that programmes were implemented.
Our team:
Woodfield Medical Centre
- Danielle Rabin
- Stef Cadney-Tribe
- Shandae Simons
- Zakiya Lang
- Leora Salter
- Matthew Roberts
Cheyne Child Development Centre
- Natasha Stone
- Ellen O’Riordan
- Rafaela Skoumpourdi
- Matthew Roberts
Parkview Centre for Health and Well-being
- Gemma Garvey
- Morgann Bruce
- Feyza Alcicek
- Hannah Carver
- Hannah Vine (based at Woodlane School)
The CYPOT Team is managed by Bernadette Ford.
Children and Young People's Occupational Therapy (CYPOT) works across Hammersmith and Fulham, Kensington and Chelsea, and Westminster. The team works from three main clinics across the three boroughs.
Woodfield Medical Centre
7e Woodfield Road
London
W9 3XZ
North Westminster & North Kensington and Chelsea
Cheyne Child Development Centre
Doughty House
Netherton Grove
369 Fulham Road
SW10 9NH
South Westminster, South Kensington and Chelsea, Fulham
Parkview Centre for Health and Well being
Cheyne Child Development
56 Bloemfontein Road
W127FG
Hammersmith
If you have any queries or want advice in relation to your child's condition you can contact the Children’s ‘Complex Care and Speech and Language Therapy’ Administration Hub: 020 7266 8777. This phone line is open from 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday.
CYPOT has an open referral process. This means that we will consider referrals from parents, education, and health, or social care professionals.
Referrals are not accepted directly from the local borough SEN department.
If a child or young person has been discharged from CYPOT, but new concerns arise, parents may re-refer their child up to one year after discharge.
External referrals:
Where to send the referrals:
CYPOT supports children and adolescents from 0 to 19 years of age who have a GP within the City of Westminster, Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea, and/or Hammersmith & Fulham. Referrals are accepted from parents, health and education professionals (e.g. GP's, Paediatricians, Allied Health professionals and school SENCO's).
The referral form must identify at least two functional concerns, such as difficulty using cutlery, organising self for school, dressing, making breakfast/light snacks, participating in PE lessons or sporting activities, handling play items (e.g. building with Lego) or using school tools (such as scissors and pencils). The referral needs to specify how the difficulties impact on the child/young person's ability to perform daily activities.
We do not accept referrals for purely handwriting difficulties in the absence of other functional concerns. If a child has handwriting issues but no other difficulties, we would expect a school to provide handwriting intervention. We do not accept a referral for “sensory processing” in isolation of functional concerns.
If the child or young person has complex health needs, please complete this referral form
A referral is considered for OT assessment and clinically reasoned follow up when the child or young person has 2 or more functional difficulties in addition to their complex health needs.
For all other Occupational Therapy needs, no referral form is required.
If your child does not meet criteria for direct Occupational Therapy you are still able to access direct occupational therapy support via our website resources. No referral is needed and this support can be accessed by anyone supporting the child or young person, or the child/young person themselves.
Please see our programmes on this link. (Access to Programmes link)
The CYPOT team works closely with schools and nurseries in Westminster, Kensington & Chelsea, and Hammersmith & Fulham.
Occupational Therapy provision is not dependent upon whether a child or young person has an EHCP.
In North Kensington and Chelsea, The CYPOT Team support the Special Educational Needs (SEN) of children with Occupational Therapy provision stated on their Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP).
In Westminster, Hammersmith & Fulham and South Kensington and Chelsea this is provided by the corresponding SEN services. These services are delivered via the Local Authority.
Special Educational Needs Department (SEND) Local Offer web links:
Please follow the below links to the local offer website to find out more about your NHS community based CYPOT services, across Hammersmith & Fulham, Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster.
The CYPOT team may be able to offer home visits where appropriate, to meet the complex needs of a child or young person. For example, to support parents/carers to implement strategies and programmes in the home environment.
Additional content and information
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Information about how occupational therapists work with children and young people can be found online.
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Royal College of Occupational Therapists (professional body)
Other websites that may be useful in assisting children and young people to learn through play include:
Therapy fun zone - set up by an occupational therapist to share activity ideas, and encourage you to share yours in order to keep the creativity stimulated if you are helping your child to develop their skills.
Therapy Street for Kids and OT Plan - provide ideas for activities you and your OT are working towards.
ERIC - provides resources to help improve the quality of life of children, young people, and their families in the UK who are affected by wetting and soiling problems, in order to help them manage or overcome these issues.
Groups and extra-curricular activities for children and young adults
Sport and physical activity opportunities that have a positive impact on disabled people's lives:
Parent support groups
Cheyne Child Development Service (Doughty House)
Chelsea and Westminster Hospital
369 Fulham Road
SW10 9NH
Working Hours: 8.30am-5pm
Phone: 020 7266 8777
Parkview Centre for Health and Wellbeing
1st Floor Cranston Court
56 Bloemfontein Road
London
W12 7FG
Working Hours: 8.30am-5pm
Phone: 020 7266 8777
The Medical Centre
7e Woodfield Road
London
W9 3XZ
Working Hours: 8.30am-5pm
Phone: 020 7266 8777