My Journey through the

Children Development

Centre

A short guide to the

Multi–Disciplinary Team Appointment

for Children 0—5

I am going to see the Doctor / Therapist. I have to go through the main door of the City Care Centre

We hope this short guide will help answer some questions

that you may have when visiting the Child Development

Centre for your child’s assessment.

Hopefully the guide will help you to know a little bit about

what the Child Development Centre looks like, what the

assessment may be like and what might happen

afterwards.

CPFT works to offer families a person centred service so

what is mentioned in this booklet is only a guide of what

to expect and individual families may receive something

different.

This short guide has been designed by parents for

parents. With acknowledgement to the hard work, time

and effort in putting it together going to Claudia Dias,

Johanna Woodhams and the parents they gathered

ideas from.

The Doctor’s /Therapist’s office is at the end of the hallway, I have to look out for the white Swan on the wall.

I have to walk past the shop and turn left.

Why has my child been referred for an MDT Assessment?

Your child has been referred for an MDT Assessment following a General Developmental

Assessment (sometimes referred to as a GDA) with a Community Paediatrician. The

Community Paediatrician will refer children to Child Development Centre (CDC) when they

think there is a difficulty with development that requires further investigation. The Child

development Centre sees lots of children, but commonly children are seen with queried:

Developmental Delay

Social Communication Difficulties

Language Difficulties

Behaviour Difficulties

Usually the families that come to Child Development Centre have been following advice from

other sources such as friends, family, health visitors and doctors, but things do not seem to

have changed.

What do I do if my child is ill on the day/ I can’t make the

appointment?

If you think that your child is too ill to attend an assessment on the day then please telephone

the CDC know as soon as possible. If the CDC have notice then sometimes the they can

contact other families who are waiting and offer them the appointment.

If your appointment is not convenient for you then please telephone and let CDC know as

soon as possible. The CDC will try to meet requests for appointment dates and times, but this

is not always possible due to the working patterns of the staff involved in the assessment

process. In all cases when an appointment is cancelled it is likely that there will be a further

wait for a new appointment. The CDC will try to rebook you into the next suitable slot. If you

cancel more than two appointments the CDC may not be able to rebook, and may refer you

back to your GP or health visitor.

If you do not bring your child to the appointment on the day then a member of the team at

CDC will write to you to request that you telephone to make a new appointment within 7 days

of receiving the letter.

The CDC may contact the Trust safeguarding team or the Local Safeguarding Children’s

Board (Social Care) to notify them of non-attended appointments. The CDC normally only

allow a maximum of two non–attended/ cancelled appointments before discharging your child

from the service. As the CDC have a high demand for appointments they are not able to

keep offering appointments. If you are unsure about anything please telephone the CDC.

They will always try to help in any way they can.

I will wait for adult with me to tell the Receptionist that we have arrived for my appointment.

After we speak with the Receptionist, I can play in the waiting room. I need to stay close to the adult with me and follow directions in the

waiting room.

What happens at an MDT Assessment for 0-5 years?

When you arrive for your MDT Assessment you will be asked take a seat in the waiting

room.

A professional will then collect you and your child for your appointment and take you to

the assessment room. In the room there are lots of toys for your child to play with and

they are free to explore.

When you get into the room the professionals will introduce themselves and will

explain the different things the professionals will be asking about.

Professionals will allow your child to explore the room for a short while before they

start to join in with them. Sometimes a child may not go to the toys on their own or will

ask you to go with them. This is ok and Professionals will help you to make your child

feel relaxed and safe.

When a child is settled Professionals will take it in turns to ask you questions and

interact with your child. Professionals are interested in seeing your child engage in free

play but they will also try to take them to a table. Professionals call this a workstation.

At the workstation Professionals will try to complete some more structured

assessments. They will be looking at their understanding of language, early learning

and fine motor skills.

You can expect your appointment to last for around an hour. At the end of the assessment

you can ask any questions that you may have.

The Doctor / Therapist will call my name when it is my turn to go play games. I will follow directions and walk with the Doctor /Therapist down

the hallway.

If I need to use the toilets I will walk past the reception desk on the left side down the corridor. I will follow the signs on the wall.

Note: The hallway leading to the toilet is a shared area and although the

sign says CAMHs you will not go there if using the toilet

Who will be at the MDT Assessment for 0-5 years?

There will usually be three people present at the MDT Assessment:

A Clinical Psychologist who may ask questions about general concerns, interaction

with others, understanding of emotions and early learning.

A Speech and Language Therapist who may ask questions about language

development, non verbal communication methods and understanding.

An Occupational Therapist who may ask questions about sensory difficulties such as

difficulties with certain textures/foods and response to particular sounds and

sensations.

The team understands that this is a lot of people but they want to help you and your child

feel as relaxed as possible. Sometimes they may be joined by an extra person but, they try

not to do this.

Note: There is an observation facility in the room and this may be used by other team members

such as Assistant Practitioners, to observe the assessment. Sometimes trainee doctors and

student nurses will observe the session from the Observation Room. Please advise if you

would prefer that students do not observe your session.

We might walk to another room to play. When we finish the appointment everyone will be proud of me. It is fun to play games.

It is time to leave. We will say goodbye and leave the Doctor’s /Therapist’s office.

What happens following an MDT Assessment for 0-5 years

old?

Following the Assessment you will receive a feedback appointment (sometimes this

is sent out to you at the same time as your MDT Assessment date). The

Paediatrician will then meet with you to tell you the results of the assessment.

You will then either be put onto one of the intervention pathways or discharged from

the service if Professionals agree that no ongoing support is required.

The intervention pathways are designed to provide time-limited support; this means

that professionals do plan to discharge your child once we agree that intervention is

finished. Professionals will usually begin with either a group intervention (Attention

and Engagement Group) with up to 3 other children and their parents or a 1 to 1

intervention (Intensive Interaction) to build on a child’s interaction and awareness of

others. After Intensive Interaction, professionals will aim to help the family access

the group intervention although not all children will need to attend the group.

After this the CDC will work with you to identify the main issues which everyone

need to work together on. The CDC will then compile a time limited intervention plan

to help address these issues.

The programme aim is to empower and enable families to become problem solvers

who are independent of services. Any interventions will require your full support and

time in order for them to be successful.

Will I get an answer on the day?

Professionals are not always able to give you an answer on the day as they need to dis-

cuss things as a team first. Sometimes professionals may be able to give an indication of

our initial impressions but usually the Paediatrician will meet with you to tell you the MDT

assessment outcome and talk about next steps.

Who can I contact for more information?

You can contact the Community Paediatricians Administrator on 01733 777939 if you

have any questions/queries and she will direct your enquiry to the appropriate person.

Another place I may go to is the café. The café is up the stairs just past the reception

desk that is just inside the front entrance of the City Care Centre.