Referrals
You can refer a child or young person to the Children and Young People’s Therapy Service. You can do this directly or through an Early Help Assessment.
For direct referrals you can
- email referrals to CYPTSReferrals@SomersetFT.nhs.uk (this is the preferred option)
- send referrals by post to: Referrals, Children and Young People’s Therapy Service, Priory House, Priory Health Park, Glastonbury Road, Wells BA5 1XL
You can also visit the Children and Young People’s Therapy Service website to check who the service supports and to find referral forms.
All occupational therapy referrals go through a triage process. This checks whether the child or young person’s needs meet the service criteria. To get support, the child or young person must have significant functional difficulties with everyday activities.
If the need is high enough, they will be placed on a ‘sensory pathway’. This is an advice-based pathway. Parents are invited to watch a series of online webinars. They will also have a follow‑up phone call. This support helps them create a sensory plan for their child.
Parents, carers and schools get practical advice to help support the child. They also receive information packs and recording sheets to track progress.
For many children, this level of support is enough.
If more support is needed
If the child or young person does not make progress, a face‑to‑face appointment can be requested. Evidence will be needed to show:
- what strategies have been tried
- how long they were used
- what effect they had
We may decide that the child or young person’s difficulties are not caused by sensory processing and are due to another reason. We will explain this and discuss the next steps.