Make a referral
Who we accept referrals from
We accept requests for involvement from:
- Health professionals
- Education professionals
- Social Care professionals
- Parents if the child has been seen by the service before for the same condition within the last six months.
Consent is required from parent / guardian for every referral.
Referral paperwork should be sent to the email / address on the referral form.
GPs should access LMC approved proformas via OCCG.
Non-urgent advice: Parental consent
If you are concerned about a child or young person’s communication, or eating and drinking skills, you can request our involvement if you have the parent’s consent.
Referral Process
If you have concerns about a child’s communication and are thinking of referring to Children’s Integrated Therapies, referral paperwork is required. Please see below for more information about how to refer to each service including relevant referral and screening forms.
GPs should use the LMC-approved proformas, available via the Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group.
Referral guidance for Speech and Language Therapy
If you have concerns about a child’s speech and language development and are thinking about referring to Speech and Language therapy:
- Complete supporting paperwork relevant to the child’s age. These are designed to help you identify whether a referral is needed and can also be used to monitor a child’s progress with their speech and language skills.
- BRISC Book 1: Ages 18 months to 3 years 6 months
- BRISC Book 2: Ages 4-7 (equates to reception KS1)
- BRISC Book 3: Ages 7-11 (equates to KS2)
- Secondary school screening form
There is also a Speech Sound Checklist. This must be completed if you have concerns about the way a child uses sounds when talking. Please click here to access the Speech Sound Checklist Pictures.
- If the supporting paperwork indicates that a referral is appropriate, discuss and agree referral with parents / carer. Obtain consent.
- For children not yet in school, complete the Preschool Referral Form (SPORFI). Return the form to the admin address on the referral form.
- For all other children complete the school age Referral Form. Return the form to the CIT admin email address on the referral form.
- If the supporting paperwork suggests a referral is not needed at this time, visit our resources and advice for strategies on how to support speech and language development. You can also look at the OCC Local Offer, Ordinarily Available Toolkit (OAT).
Non-urgent advice: Please note:
- Ensure you tick / highlight areas of concern on the supporting paperwork. This will enable us to ensure that we provide the most appropriate assessment for the child’s needs. Tell us, on the referral form, what you have already put in place to support the child and what progress the child made.
- Secondary referrals will only be accepted if the young person has been discussed with the Secondary Link Therapist.
- Consent from a person who has legal parental responsibility for a child is mandatory.
- Referrals with incomplete information will not be accepted and will be returned to the referrer.
Referral guidance for Occupational Therapy
Occupational Therapy only accept referrals from health professionals, educational professionals and social and community services.
The quality of information you give us helps us to understand your young person’s needs.
We need to know what occupational or functional difficulties your young person is having such as:
- The physical difficulties a child is having with dressing, washing and eating. Telling us that your young person has poor fine motor skills, does not give us the information we need. The more details you give us about what task you want your young person to get better at and why, helps us to prioritise their needs.
- Telling us about your young persons difficulties both at home and school. We have parent and teacher questionnaires in the refer to us section to help guide you in giving us the information we need.
Referral for a child who has a complex neurological or genetic condition or is under 5
- For all under 5’s, please complete the SPORFI form and send to the relevant Early Support Programme Officer ( address details at the bottom of the form for each area)
- For all over 5’s please complete the OT referral form, adding as much information as possible.
Referral for Primary School aged children with developmental or coordination difficulties
Before considering a referral, please ensure you have used the information to identify the child’s difficulties, put strategies in place and have documented any outcomes for a minimum of 12 weeks. Following this, a referral is appropriate when the child has made no identifiable improvements.
Making a referral: please ensure the documents below are completed in full. We do not accept incomplete forms.
- the Referral Form
- the Parent Questionnaire and
- the 12 Week Teacher Questionnaire
Referral for Secondary School aged young people with developmental or coordination difficulties
You need to complete these forms and email them back to: OxonChildrens.Therapies@oxfordhealth.nhs.uk
Referral guidance for Physiotherapy
Physiotherapy only accept referrals from health professionals, educational professionals and social and community services.
Please complete the form fully detailing the functional difficulties that the child or young person has.
Referral for children under five years
You need to complete this form and email it back to the address at the bottom of the form:
- Please complete the early years referral form* and send to the relevant Early Support Programme Officer.
Referral for children over 5
You need to complete this form and email it to the address at the bottom of the form:
Page last reviewed: 18 May, 2023