Learning Disabilities in Flintshire

Flintshire Pre-school Development Team (PDT)

What is an initial assessment?

When children are referred to PDT, we will organise to meet you in the clinic to gain more information around your concerns regarding your child’s development.

Two people from the PDT team will be present at the assessment. One person will spend time talking to you, and the other will spend time playing with your child. The assessment will usually last around 1 hour. You do not have to bring anything. If you have concerns about a particular aspect of your child’s development, you may want to bring any relevant documents. This could be your red book, a diary of their behaviour, a sleep or food diary, nursery or school reports, or anything else you feel might be useful.

All staff within the team ensure that all children with a developmental delay have a right to:

Be treated as an individual

Have ordinary patterns of life within a family and community environment
Have additional specialist help, to ensure maximum health and development

We provide support and advice to parents of pre-school children, between the age of 0 and 5 years old who have developmental delays in two or more of the following areas:

Physical
Cognitive (learning)
Communication
Social relationships

We work in partnership with other professionals. These could be:

Community Paediatrician
Speech and Language Therapy
Physiotherapy
Occupational Therapy
Social Workers

We provide the following range of services:

Advice and consultancy on skills and development
Developmental assessment and intervention
Liaison with education & preschool placements
Liaison with other Health Care Services
Service development teaching and training,

Who works within the PDT TEAM -

Admin –

(You will receive letters or speak to someone on the phone. She organises the team and will pass on messages to the relevant professional)

Community Nurses –

(They have specialist knowledge about the child’s development, play, social communication, developmental conditions)

Neurodevelopmental Nurse –

(Specialist knowledge about Neurodevelopmental difficulties – Works within the under 5 autism assessment team)

Support workers –

(They are skilled in developing children’s play, carrying out and modelling play interventions.)

Clinical Psychologist -

(They have specialist knowledge about the child’s development, developmental conditions, children and the families emotional needs and parenting.)

Contact Us

Pre-school Development Team (P.D.T)

Catherine Gladstone House

Hawarden Way

Mancot

Deeside

Flintshire CH5 2EP Phone: 03000 859198

SCHOOL AGE SERVICE (FLINTSHIRE)

The 4 Community Nurses are qualified nurses who have specialised to work with children with a learning disability. The nurses work with children who have a learning disability and their families/carers. The degree of disability varies between each child and may be mild, moderate or profound. They work closely with other professionals such as Teachers, Respite Care/Family Link, Classroom assistants, G.P’s, school nurses, Community Paediatricians, Physiotherapists Speech & Language Therapists, Psychologists and many more … wherever the need.

How can you access a Community Nurse?

Someone (e.g. school/parent/other professional) has to identify the area of need, for example:

Mum needs support around her son’s behaviour as he bites himself

Mrs. Jones would like some advice around her daughter’s epilepsy

What is the referral process?

Children can be referred to the PDT team by health professional, such as health visitor and community Paediatricians or Teacher. However children who are referred need to have been seen by a community Paediatrician in the last six months. Parents will be contacted by the service once the referral has been received and we will organise to meet you in the clinic to gain more information around your concerns regarding your child’s development.

What happens next?

The school-age team meet fortnightly where each new referral is discussed to decide if our service is the appropriate one. If the referral meets criteria then an initial appointment is offered via a letter inviting parents to make an appointment with the team.

At this appointment, together with the parents, the nurses discuss any current issues prioritise the main area of need. An action plan is devised or a decision is made to signpost on to a more appropriate service.

The school-age team’s way of working is based upon the ‘Choice and Partnership Approach’ (CAPA) which aims to:

Set realistic goals
Help to implement the action plan
Involve other services if appropriate
Work within an agreed timeframe on focussed pieces of work
Review the action plan regularly through to discharge

Using the CAPA approach aims to:

respond to referrals quicker
reduce waiting list times
create more opportunity for focussed and efficient work in partnership with families or carers

What is the role of the nurse?

Aim to promote a healthier, valued and more fulfilling life for both the child, family and carers
Attempt to lessen the impact of a child’s disability by provided information and support
Enhance understanding in regard to an individual’s specific needs
Support the child and family to enable them to pursue ordinary patterns of life, gaining access to a full range of activities using ordinary facilities
Encourage the use of the primary health services
Adapt the role to meet the changing needs of a child within a family during the transitions experienced in growing up
Work with other professionals
Support the child and family to develop abilities, independence, and improve and maintain the child’s skills

Contact details -

Childrens Development and Learning Disability Service (Pre School Development Team PDT and School Age Team),

Flintshire Children’s Centre, Catherine Gladstone House,

Mancot, Flintshire CH5 2EP

Tel: 03000 859198