Occupational Therapy Service, Children's / Paediatric, West Sussex

Service

The paediatric occupational therapy service aims to help children achieve or maintain their maximum level of independence and to develop practical life skills at home and school. The occupational therapy service is able to help and support children who have movement or sensory difficulties that impact on their functional and independence skills

What we do:

  • Children would see an occupational therapist if they are having difficulty developing their play and self-care skills. These skills include activities such as dressing and cutlery use or more school based activities such as pencil and scissor skills.
  • We work closely with other agencies that are involved with your child and will often carry out joint visits to help ensure an integrated team approach to your child's treatment.
  • We provide a service to all children that have a West Sussex GP. We work in a variety of locations, including Child Development Centres, Children and Family Centres, schools, nurseries and children's homes.
  • We expect to see children within 18 weeks for an initial assessment. If required, plans for follow up occupational therapy intervention will be discussed and agreed with you.
  • Sussex Community NHS Trust occupational therapists have comprehensive statutory and mandatory training completed annually. Continued professional development and competency checks ensure staff offer the best possible advice and treatment for children.

Our users say:

"Our therapist is always very helpful and listens to our concerns regarding our child. She is always kind and caring towards our child" "The session was set at the pace of the child with lots of encouragement"

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Age Range: 0–19

Free to use?

Contact Details

01903 286 710

Address

Comments

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  • Posted by localoffer on 19 Jul 17 10:03

    "Sadly not a good one - requested to see children's OT, was called within a few months by an adult OT, as my son's condition happened daily (paralysis of legs) but inbeween those times he could walk he was not 'eligible' for support. We were advised to keep him 'housebound' on a bed in our living room (it's 4x4 meters) for health and safety reasons despite our protests that he had been like this for 8 months and it was no quality of life for him. They were rude, aggressive and refused to help us by putting any of their recommendations in writing, even by email so I could share it with my husband or other care givers as I was upset and wanted to make sure I had the facts right. He can be in this condition for up to 36 hours sometimes but even when he's fine the answer was to keep him constantly at home, in my head not good for his mental wellbeing or fulfilling potential at all. The only thing that was suggested was Autism Sussex (as he also happens to have Asperger Syndrome) I pointed out that Autism Sussex offered a session that could be attended but was out of the house, the other service they offered were behavioural sessions, I had already discussed these sessions at length at clinic and they were deemed not appropriate as we already had very good strategies in place, clearly leg paralysis is not a behavioural issue. I do wonder if the LEA know what Autism Sussex offer before suggesting it. How unwell do you have to be to access these services? Is 8 months of not having your legs working at least once daily for 4 - 36 hours unpredictability to the extend your told not to leave the house not enough?!" Comment left via the feedback plugin.