Feeding service referrals

Who can refer

We accept referrals from paediatricians from Evelina London Children’s Hospital and from other Trusts. Any concerns arising while awaiting an appointment needs to be directed to the referrer and local services.

We cannot accept urgent referrals. Babies and children with a sudden deterioration in feeding skills may require hospital admission.

This is a specialist tertiary service so there must be evidence of local input prior to referral and while under our service. Children must remain open to paediatrician – general, community or specialist as well as dietician and therapists (OT, SALT or psychology). Referrals without evidence of this are likely to be rejected.

Examples include

Local speech and language therapy swallowing assessment or feeding evaluation
Local dietitian nutritional assessment
Input from occupational therapist and/or local psychologist
Further specialist assessment with ongoing care and input from the local multidisciplinary team which may include working with local school or nursery.
Physical examination and blood tests. This especially important where distance, other needs and/or patient preference means a virtual appointment in our service may be more appropriate than a face–to-face assessment.

Who we see

We see infants and children from birth to 18 years of age.

We require evidence that the nature of the feeding difficulties and their impact on the child and or family are significant, despite appropriate intervention strategies. These may include aspiration symptoms, recurrent infections, medical admission, growth failure, clinically significant nutritional deficiency, increasing aversion to food, reducing range or increasing stress and anxiety associated with feeding.

Making a referral

Infants and children should be referred to their community feeding team in the first instance. Community based health professionals are well placed to provide timely support and management of children with feeding difficulties ranging from typical to more complex problems. The referral must include evidence of local support for feeding and the child must remain open to local therapy services including dietitian.

A referral form must be completed along with any dietician, therapy or other relevant reports. Referrals with insufficient information will be rejected.