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Children’s Speech & Language Therapy

Introduction

We offer a package of speech and language therapy support for children of pre-school and primary-school age who have:

Speech, language and communication difficulties.
Autistic-spectrum disorders.
Hearing impairment.
Disorders of fluency, such as stammering and stuttering.
Disorders of feeding, eating or drinking.
Cleft palate and velopharyngeal abnormalities.
Speech and language difficulties of neurological origin.
Difficulties with voice.

Our Speech and Language Therapists can:

Assess speech, language and communication development, skills and difficulties.
Assess eating and drinking difficulties.
Make a diagnosis.
Develop an intervention plan and work with families and carers to implement it.
Decide when treatment is complete and the child can be discharged.
Support onward referrals as necessary

Our team

Our team includes qualified Speech and Language Therapists, Speech and Language Therapy Assistants, specialist nursery nurses and volunteers.

If you’re considering a career as a Speech and Language Therapist, explore the role and the necessary steps here.

Where you can Find Us

We provide our service at these locations:

Burnham Clinic
Livewell Hub, Braintree
Stapleford House
Crouch Vale Medical Centre
St Peter’s Hospital, Main Building, Maldon
Witham Health Centre
Halstead Hospital

Plus:

Three special schools
Five speech and language centres/enhanced provisions
Three enhanced provisions for children with hearing impairment
Mainstream schools and numerous mainstream early years settings, such as pre-schools and nurseries.

We book appointments Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 5pm.

This is subject to change at short notice.

How to refer to the Children’s Speech and Language team

If your child is above the age of 1 and have eating and/or drinking difficulties you can phone the Care Coordination Centre or they can be referred by their school, nursery, health visitor, social care or GP.
School aged children (Year 1-6) are referred by their school, please see the information below for the referral form and Information pack.
Children with an Education and Health Care Plan (EHCP) whose specified therapy is over and above the core provision commissioned by health are seen by the Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) team – for more information click here.
We do not currently provide a service for secondary aged children, unless they attend a special school.
For children aged 2 up to the end of reception year with a mid-Essex GP, you can book a Communication Station appointment without needing to complete a referral. Please call 0300 303 9960 between 8-8:30 on the day of the Communication Station to get a booked appointment for the same day. Details of dates and locations can be found below.
If translation services are required, there are safeguarding concerns or you are unable to attend a Communication Station and you require a pre-booked appointment, please complete the below referral form. Please state on the form that you require a pre-booked appointment. There is an up to 18 week wait for pre-booked appointments.

Pre-school Referral Form

Upcoming Communication Station dates and locations:

Communication Stations are 15 minute appointments that involve meeting a Speech and Language Therapist to assess or review your child’s speech, language and communication through listening to your current concerns, observation and play. We will then offer advice and/or ensure that your child is put on the correct care pathway.

Crouch Vale Medical Centre Burnham Road, South Woodham Ferrers, Chelmsford CM3 5QP

Monday 16 December AM & PM – please call 0300 303 9960 8-8:30am on 16.12.24 to book an appointment. Please have your child’s NHS number ready.

Wednesday 15 January AM & PM – please call 0300 303 9960 8-8:30am on 15.01.25 to book an appointment. Please have your child’s NHS number ready.

St Peters Hospital Assessment and Rehabilitation Unit (ARU) Spital Road, Maldon CM9 6EG

Friday 24 January AM – please call 0300 303 9960 8-8:30am on 24.01.25 to book an appointment. Please have your child’s NHS number ready.

Stapleford House Children’s Centre 103 Stapleford Close, Chelmsford CM2 0QX

Wednesday 18 December AM & PM please call 0300 303 9960 8-8:30am on 18.12.24 to book an appointment. Please have your child’s NHS number ready.

Monday 20 January AM &PM – please call 0300 303 9960 8-8:30am on 20.01.25 to book an appointment. Please have your child’s NHS number ready.

Tanglewood nursery school Melbourne Avenue, Chelmsford CM1 2DX

Thursday 30 January AM – please call 0300 303 9960 8-8:30am on 30.01.25 to book an appointment. Please have your child’s NHS number ready.

Witham Health Centre 4 Mayland Road, Witham CM8 2UX

Tuesday 10 December AM – please call 0300 303 9960 8-8:30am on 10.12.24 to book an appointment. Please have your child’s NHS number ready.

Tuesday 7 January AM – please call 0300 303 9960 8-8:30am on 07.01.25 to book an appointment. Please have your child’s NHS number ready.

Livewell Hub, Victoria Square, Manor Street, Braintree, CM7 3YL

Friday 20 December AM & PM – please call 0300 303 9960 8-8:30am on 20.12.24 to book an appointment. Please have your child’s NHS number ready.

Friday 17 January AM &PM – please call 0300 303 9960 8-8:30am on 17.01.25 to book an appointment. Please have your child’s NHS number ready.

Halstead Hospital Rehabilitation Unit 78 Hedingham Rd, Halstead CO9 2DL.

Friday 6 December AM – please call 0300 303 9960 8-8:30am on 06.12.24 to book an appointment. Please have your child’s NHS number ready.

Friday 3 January AM – please call 0300 303 9960 8-8:30am on 03.01.25 to book an appointment. Please have your child’s NHS number ready.

Referral for children in Mainstream Schools

We accept referrals for:

Children in years 1-6 with speech, language and communication needs.

All children presenting with stammering/stuttering should be referred at the earliest opportunity.
Children who may have Selective Mutism should be referred if they continue to find it difficult to use their speech with a range of people in school, after one term.
Children with voice difficulties should be directed to the GP to request that they are referred to ENT and Adult speech and language therapy.
Please see above for referring children who have swallowing (dysphagia) needs.

School aged children (Year 1-6) are referred by their school, please view our referral form below.

School Referral Form

For Parents: School settings are skilled at supporting children with speech, language or communication difficulties. They have a range of resources and expertise available to them to support all children with their communication. If you have concerns about your child’s speech, language or communication development please first discuss these with your child’s teacher or SENCo; there will be support and advice they can offer for you and your child, to support their progress.

For Schools: If you feel that a child requires specialist speech and language input, having already provided school-based support for a minimum of one term, please refer to us.

For GPs or other professionals: If making a referral in discussion with family, please fill in our referral form below, indicating parental consent for us to liaise with the school SENCO as the first step in understanding the needs of the child

How to make a referral:

1) Carry out interventions that provide a targeted level of support with the pupil for a minimum of one term e.g. One plan, specific interventions to support language that are already available to you as a school.

2) If concerns persist, please fill out our referral form in full with the child’s parents/guardians, indicating parental consent for the referral and for us to liaise with you as SENCO if needed, via our Telephone Referral Advice line.

3) Send the referral form to the Provide Care Co-ordination Centre as directed on the form.

4) Please note that calls with SENCOs for new referrals via our Telephone Advice Line are now optional when making a referral. If you would like to discuss the referral you have made, please e-mail PROVIDE.sltadvice@nullnhs.net. A link will be sent to you so that you can book a telephone appointment to discuss the child’s needs with a speech and language therapist as a first step. On receipt of your referral, we may wish to discuss this with you, and will contact you when this is the case.