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Our children and young people’s therapy service provides occupational therapy, physiotherapy and speech and language therapy for children and young people in Hertfordshire.
Why we chose an integrated service
The integrated therapies service delivers holistic support for a child or young person’s needs, under one provider, with multidisciplinary working across the three clinical therapy professions.
Our focus
is on maximising children and young people’s functional skills and abilities to support them to be happy, healthy, safe and independent at home and in school. We share the vision of our partners in Hertfordshire County Council to ensure every child has the best possible start in life and the best opportunities throughout their education.As part of Hertfordshire’s Professional Promise, we are committed to placing children and young people with SEND, together with their families, at the centre of what we do.
Our service offer
More detailed information about the children and young people’s therapy service, including how the service is delivered, referrals and how we work with children and their families can be found in our service offer.
Our services
To find out more about the three services we provide please follow the links below:
Training and workshops
We are currently reviewing our training courses and workshop sessions, so that these can be delivered in a new virtual format. Training session dates are currently available on the individual profession pages. New dates and details are added regularly so please come back and check again if you are interested in any of our sessions.
Service delivery during COVID-19
Children and young people’s therapies has changed the way we are working due to the COVID-19. On 19 July 2021 there was a relaxation in government rules surrounding COVID-19. However, the NHS will continue to adhere to existing guidance
Process for face-to-face appointments
- Please do not attend a face-to-face appointment if you, your child or anyone in your household is exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms or if you or your child are required to self-isolate during the time of the appointment.
- Only one parent/guardian is permitted to attend the appointment with a child. Please do not bring any other children to the appointment.
- On arrival at the HCT centre, please follow local instructions provided when the appointment was booked. Please arrive at your appointment time as there is limited waiting space in the buildings and car parks. A clinician will collect you and lead you to the clinic room. Clinicians will be wearing personal protective equipment, as per recommended guidelines.
- We ask that you maintain social distancing wherever possible and when entering the building, please ensure that both of you are wearing a face covering or mask (very young children or those with additional needs will not be required to wear a face covering or mask).
- Strict cleaning procedures are in place.
- HCT PPE school poster
- Social story on PPE for school visits
If you have any urgent or new queries please contact the service advice line on 01923 470680, Option 3 and a therapist will contact you to discuss your concern.
Please remember to also look on these website pages under 'Useful Information' for further advice and support.
"You said, we did" poster - Children and young people's therapy service
- Clinic locations
- Contact the service
- How the service is provided
- Who is eligible for the service
- Useful information
- Making a referral
- Patient experience
Clinic locations
From 1 July 2021 the children and young people's therapy service and all HCT children's services will operate from the Health and Wellbeing Centre in St Albans's Civic Centre, AL1 3JE
More information including directions can be found here or you can view this in an accessible format
Contact the service
To contact the CYPT Service or to find out more about what we do:
Call: 01923 470 680, choose option 3, then option 2
Email: hct.cyptherapies1@nhs.net
Twitter: @Herts_CYPT
Facebook: facebook.com/HertsCYPT
Advice line: 01923 470 680, choose option3, then option 1 and leave a message.
Our advice line is a dedicated telephone number which parents, carers and professionals can call to speak to a therapist about a new referral or a child’s development. Please leave a message and a therapist will contact you. Calls are responded to by a therapist on weekdays.
How the service is provided
Who is eligible for the service
We provide support and advice for children and young people from 0-18-years of age. Our occupational therapy and speech and language therapy teams also support young people up to 25 years of age, when therapy provision is specified in their Hertfordshire Education Health and Care Plan.
We are commissioned to support children and young people who:
- attend an educational setting within Hertfordshire
- live at an address within Hertfordshire
- are registered with a Hertfordshire GP
All referrals will be triaged by the service to assess need and impact. Families and the referring professional will be advised of the next steps following triage.
Full details of eligibility are outlined in our service offer
Making a referral
All referrals are to be made via the online referral form. HCT do not accept paper referrals. GPs can continue to refer into CYP Therapies Services using either the Digital Referral form, Ardens or DXS.
If you have any queries or experience any issues when making a referral, please contact the Children's referral hub:
01923 470680 Option 2 or hct.cypspecialistservices@nhs.net.
All referrals sent to the service are triaged by a therapist. The information in the referral will be used to make a decision on whether an assessment appointment will be offered. Referrals for physiotherapy must be made by a health professional. Referrals for occupational therapy and speech and language therapy can be made by education and health professionals. If your child is in full-time school you should discuss any concerns you may have with your child’s teacher. Some children can be supported in their school without a referral to the service.
Screening Clinics
These speech and language therapy clinics are for children aged 2;6 to school aged, offering an opportunity for you to talk with the therapist regarding your child’s development and for us to gather information to understand your child’s needs.
Please go to our children's speech and language therapy service information and head to Making a Referral to access further information and to register your interest for a speech and language therapy screening clinic.
Patient experience
If you would like to share your story, please contact the Patient Experience team on 01707 388036 or email pals.hchs@nhs.net.
We would also love to hear about your experience on our service; please complete a survey:
Find out more about our engagement plan to gain feedback from children and young people using our service.
We value your feedback - find out what actions have been taken as a direct result of your feedback.
