Health services for children and young people

The centre provides clinic appointments and ongoing treatment and support for children with developmental disorders aged 0-19. This is either based at Wood Street or in the local Special Schools, for children who attend those schools.

Wood Street Health Centre has specialist paediatricians who provide treatment and support for children and families with complex health needs. This also includes:

• prevention
• identification
• assessment
• diagnosis

They also perform various statutory duties around child protection and medical advice for children who may have special educational needs undergoing an educational health and care needs assessment.

The Waltham Forest Community Paediatrics service provides a range of specialist clinics for children:

• Social and Communication assessment Clinic (SACC) for assessment and diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders for children under 5. Children over 5 are seen by our CAMHS for the over 5s diagnostic services. Referrals for children who are under 5 need to include a social communication questionnaire. For more information please visit our Autism page
• Assessment and management of children aged 0 to 19 with complex physical and learning needs. This includes visual and hearing impairment, movement disorders, such as cerebral palsy, and other neuro-disabilities such as epilepsy. Visit our pages on cerebral palsy and epilepsy
• Visual Impairment service for children and young people aged 0 to 19 years old. Visit our pages on visual impairment 
• Assessment and provision of services for children with hearing impairment or Deafness
• Multi-disciplinary assessment of motor and movement disorders for children and young people aged 0 to 19 including Developmental Co-ordination Disorders (DCD)
• Assessment and follow up of children and young people aged 0-19 years with genetic conditions such as Down syndrome. You can find information on our page on Down Syndrome

Referrals to the team come from a variety of service providers. This includes health, education and social care professionals, GPs, Health Visitors and School Nurses as well as Specialist Hospitals. Download the referral form.

You and your child may be invited to a clinic at Wood Street. You can prepare your child for their appointment by looking through a social story called, Going to See the Specialist Doctor.

The specialist health teams also based at Wood Street include:

• Community Children’s nurses: A team of nurses with experience of working with children with complex health needs
• Audiology: Specialists in hearing problems
• Dietician: provides support and advice on food, diet and nutrition
• Speech and Language therapists: provide support for speech, language, and communication development
• Physiotherapists: Work with children to help them with sitting, moving, and walking
• Occupational therapists: work with children to help them develop everyday skills such as dressing, writing, playing
• Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS): Provided by a team of nurses, psychologists, psychiatrists. Their services include mental health assessment, treatment and support. For further information on CAMHS visit our Social Emotional and Mental wellbeing pages