Referral to the speech and language therapy eating, drinking and swallowing team

The eating, drinking and swallowing team assess children’s eating, drinking and swallowing. The team advise on the safety of children and young people’s swallowing and provide strategies and advice to help with eating, drinking and swallowing. The team sees children and young people who have:

• complex needs which affect their eating and drinking
• structural problems which affect their eating and drinking
• who have developmental difficulties which affect their eating and drinking
• whose medical problems or past medical problems affect their willingness to eat

We aim to see children within 2 – 3 weeks of receiving a referral.

What will happen now?

If your child is not yet attending school, you will get a letter for a clinic appointment or a telephone appointment. It is important that you attend this appointment or tell us if you need a different day or time.

If your child is attending school, your child may receive a clinic appointment, or they may be seen in school.

How will my child receive the support they need?

Pre-school children are seen in clinic at Sheffield Children’s Hospital, Flockton House and in nursery, then maybe seen at home if they need longer-term support. We also offer online parent and carer workshops.

School age children and young people are seen in clinic, at home or in school. Children who attend a specialist educational provision will be seen by the speech and language therapist within their school setting.

The eating, drinking and swallowing team work in episodes of care. This supports us to see the right child at the right time with the right care. An episode of care with the eating, drinking and swallowing team may include:

• an assessment of the child’s eating, drinking, and swallowing.
• helping adults to understand the child’s needs and support them to eat, drink or swallow safely.
• mentoring adults on strategies and therapeutic interventions that will help the child reach their potential both educationally and socially.
• signposting to relevant advice, training, and resources.
• making referrals to other services if needed.

When your child has finished their episode of care, the team will give you information about when and how to get in touch with the team again for further support in the future.

How often will my child be seen?

Refusing food or limited food range

If your child is able to swallow food but is refusing food or only eats a limited range of foods, you will be invited to attend an online workshop with the option of a follow up appointment if this would be helpful for you.

This is likely to be between 1 and 3 appointments. This may include support for your child’s nursery or school.

Related to their development

If your child has problems with feeding and swallowing that are related to their development, the speech and language therapist will stay involved with you until your child is able to eat and drink to the best of their ability.

This is likely to be between 1 and 5 sessions.

Sensitive to how food feels

If your child is sensitive to how food feels in their mouth and this affects how they chew, the Speech and Language Therapist will work with you to reduce any risks, develop your child’s chewing and explore their sensitivity to food.

This is likely to be between 1 and 4 sessions.

Related to medical condition

If your child has swallowing difficulties as part of a complex medical condition, the speech and language therapist will work with you to provide support about the most appropriate positioning, textures and utensils to ensure that your child is able to eat and drink to the best of their ability.

This might be up to 15 sessions a year. These sessions may be face to face, attending meetings or writing plans and reports for your child.

Related to structural issues

If your child has something structural such as a TOF or a laryngeal cleft, Speech and Language Therapy will work with you and the other members of your child’s medical team at different times throughout their treatment.

Specialist school settings

If your child attends a specialist school setting, the speech and language therapist will see your child in school and ensure that school have a feeding plan in place for your child so everyone knows what foods your child likes to eat and how they like to eat and drink.

How long is an appointment?

An appointment will be around 45 minutes and may be face to face, telephone or video, attending meetings or writing plans and reports for your child.

The number of appointments your child receives may vary slightly from the numbers above so that we can ensure you and your child get all the support you need. If you do not attend an appointment and do not let us know we may not be able to replace the missed appointment.

How can I get more support in the future for my child?

When your child has finished their episode of care, the team will give you information about when and how to get in touch with the team again for further support in the future.

We aim to see children within 2 – 3 weeks of receiving a referral, so we should be able to see you and your child again quickly.