- Where is the service located and what areas does it cover?
The multidisciplinary team is based at Kentish Town Health Centre, within Children’s Services on the 1st Floor. As part of our team, we have; - a Consultant Paediatrician – who looks after developmental concerns, including eating and drinking, monitors growth, and arranges any tests as required, such as blood tests, or medicines that might help. - a Paediatric Dietitian – who specialises in supporting children to get a balanced diet, including vitamins and minerals. - an Occupational Therapist – who focuses on the development of the hand skills needed for eating and drinking, and how your child processes the sensory information around food, for example, how it smells, feels and tastes. - a Clinical Psychologist – who considers the emotional and wellbeing impact of having eating and drinking difficulties can have on your child and your family. - a Speech and Language Therapist – who thinks about the development of your child’s oral motor skills for eating, helping to make sure that their chewing and swallowing skills are safe.
- Who does your service provide for?
Children 0-19 who are resident in Camden.
- How can a child or young person start using the service?
Referrals are received via the Single Point of Referral (SPOR), and can be referred to the Feeding Clinic by anyone already working with a child or their family. Children are referred to the Feeding Clinic when they have accessed support in the community, but would benefit from a higher level of multidisciplinary support in order to make progress with their eating and drinking skills.
- How are decisions made about eligibility for your service?
We meet on a weekly basis, and look at new referrals against our criteria; - The child is 0-19 and lives in Camden. - The family have accessed some support for eating and drinking skills before referral to our service. - The child’s eating and drinking difficulties are having a significant impact on health, wellbeing, growth, social and emotional development, family or caregiver interaction or the child’s nutritional adequacy. - A multidisciplinary approach is deemed to be most appropriate for the child and their family.
- How do you communicate with service users and how are they involved in decision making/planning?
Following the acceptance of a SPOR referral to the MOSAIC Complex Feeding Clinic, families are invited to opt-in to the service through the provision of written documentation outlining their demographic details, and concerns for their child’s eating and drinking skills. The feedback received through this documentation provides the basis of discussion with the family during the initial assessment, and helps the team to review the progress of your child following any intervention. Families are invited to rate their child and family situation against a number of reference points related to eating and drinking, and then repeat these measures at the end of therapy blocks. Parents are invited to participate in goal setting for their child and family, particularly during the Parent Education Sessions, which take place at the beginning of each therapy block, and facilitate parents to apply principles from the therapy approach used in the clinic directly to their child and family situation.
- Is your service fully accessible?
The building is fully wheelchair accessible, and additional resources can be implemented to make the service as a whole accessible, for example, booking interpreters as appropriate, communicating with families via telephone calls, letters, emails and text messages to facilitate communication, and being as flexible as possible in order to facilitate access to intervention.
- What training have the staff supporting children and young people with SEND had/or will be they be getting?
All of the professionals working the Complex Feeding Clinic are highly skilled therapists within their own disciplines, and work as part of MOSAIC multidisciplinary teams, such as the Child Development Team (CDT), outside of the Feeding Clinic. All professionals within the team work with children with a variety of complex additional needs, including learning difficulties, motor difficulties, autism spectrum disorder, and emotional and behavioural difficulties. In addition to their own high level of training, all members of the Feeding Clinic team have also attended the Sequential Oral Sensory Approach Basic and Advanced training modules, which is the therapy approach used in the Feeding Clinic to provide therapy for children and young people accessing the service.
- Who should a service user contact if they want to raise a concern or complain about something?
The Speech and Language Therapist (SLT) Chloe Selby, working within the Complex Feeding Clinic also has a role for coordinating and managing the service, so he/she would act as the first point of contact if there was anything a family would like to discuss or had concerns about by writing to chloeselby@nhs.net Further than that, families are also able to contact the head of MOSAIC if they wish to discuss any difficulties in further detail. If you remain unhappy you can contact the Head of MOSAIC Kentish Town Health Centre 2 Bartholomew Road London, NW5 2AJ Telephone: 020 3317 2000 Or you can make a complaint through the Council’s complaints process. [Camden Complaints](http://www.camden.gov.uk/ccm/content/council-and-democracy/having-your-say/complaints-and-suggestions/how-do-i-complain-about-a-council-service.en) or ring the general council phone number; 020 7974 4444 or Comments, concerns or compliments can be directed to PALS on: Telephone: 020 7685 5973 Email: patientsupport.cps@nhs.net or in writing addressed to: PALS, Bedford House, 3rd Floor, 125-133 Camden High Street, NW1 7JRthe PALS representative
- Who can a parent carer/young person contact for further information?
For further information, contact the main number for MOSAIC on 020 3317 2200, and ask to speak to a member of the Complex Feeding Clinic team.
