Children’s physiotherapists work in partnership with the child, family and all other professionals from health, education and social care settings to maximise a child’s physical abilities and independence.  Our goal is to work closely with the family and the wider team of carers, so they understand the child’s physical difficulties and empower them to be able to support and enable the child to achieve their best.

Children’s physiotherapists assess the child’s abilities and analyse how they move.  From this assessment an individual physiotherapy management plan will be formulated. This will typically involve teaching parents and carers specific activities to practice with their child and how best to manage their physical needs throughout their daily routine. This may also include the provision of specialist therapy equipment to support standing, walking and position at night when sleeping.

Children’s physiotherapy also support children with respiratory problems such as cystic fibrosis.

Children’s physiotherapy have an open referral system. This means that we accept referrals from any source including from parents/carers, health visitors, pre-schools, nurseries, mainstream and special schools, paediatricians and GPs.  

If you would like to make a referral to the children's physiotherapy service please click on this link, you will then receive a telephone call from a physiotherapist to discuss your concerns further and organise an assessment as appropriate.

Our physiotherapists work with children with a variety of difficulties. This includes children who are experiencing:

  • Delays reaching their developmental milestones (sitting, crawling, walking etc)
  • Movement difficulties
  • Co-ordination difficulties
  • Balance difficulties
  • Orthopaedic problems (problems with joints or bones)

We also see children with longer term conditions, such as:

  • Neurological conditions (conditions affecting the brain)
  • Muscular pathologies
  • Rheumatology conditions
  • Cystic fibrosis

Please click here to see our referral form.

The child should be resident within the County of Lincolnshire and be registered with a Lincolnshire GP

Or

The child is not resident but attends a Lincolnshire special school where the main reason for referral relates to problems accessing the curriculum or school environment

And

The child should present with severe functional difficulties or in the case of babies or infants, potentially severe difficulties which affect their development, performance and independence in daily activities relating to self-care, home/school, and play/leisure activities.

The Service is offered to

Providing the above apply the physiotherapists provide assessment and intervention for children presenting with a range of difficulties from those with non-complex orthopaedic conditions to those with life limiting or long-term conditions.  Referrals will be accepted for the following:

  1. Children who present with severe functional difficulties; that have an organic cause; or in the case of babies and infants, potentially severe difficulties which affect their development, performance, and independence
  2. Children who are delayed in their gross motor skills due to a non-orthopaedic or apparent neurological condition. This group may include children with syndromes that include developmental delay.
  3. Children up to and including the age of 7 years with musculoskeletal, movement or orthopaedic conditions.  Children over 7 years of age are seen by the adult musculo-skeletal service, unless they have any of the specific congenital orthopaedic conditions for e.g. Positional Talipes, Pre and post op Perthes.
  4. Children who have had orthopaedic surgery will be managed by the Children’s Therapists post-operatively if it impacts on the child’s ability to access the school premises.
  5. Children with rheumatological conditions i.e. symptomatic Juvenile Chronic Arthritis will be accepted for specific clinical reasons.
  6. Children presenting with respiratory conditions will be managed by a physiotherapist with specialist training. The children will have Cystic Fibrosis, chronic respiratory conditions (excluding asthma) or non-acute respiratory conditions related to their long-term condition.
  7. The individual physiotherapy needs of children with neurological long-term conditions including cerebral palsy, neuromuscular disease and head injuries are managed by the children’s physiotherapists but liaising with their colleagues to ensure that the child receives an integrated care package.
  8. Children with non-complex global developmental delay, following assessment to eliminate neurological involvement, are managed by the assistant practitioners.

We are unable to accept referrals for the following:

1.           MSK problems in children over the age of 7 years of age.

2.           Developmental Co-ordination Disorder

3.           Functional Neurological Disorder