About the integrated children’s additional needs service

We are here to help children and young people with disabilities to achieve their goals by:

Supporting the participation and inclusion of children, young people with disabilities and their families in everyday activities.

Empowering children, young people and their families to self-manage conditions and feel in control of their care.
Identifying and managing underlying impairments such as disabilities and illnesses to prevent or reduce secondary conditions.

Promoting child wellbeing through safeguarding and healthy lifestyle support.

We do this by working with children and families to find out what goals they most want to achieve. We help to identify any underlying problems and give children and families the information they need to make choices about their care. We work with children, families and other people (such as other health workers, teachers and community workers) to identify the best way for children and young people to achieve their goals. This may involve direct intervention for the child, but may also include support and training for other people or changes to their environment or activities.

The paediatric community week provides an overview of how care for children is provided within their own community, with a consideration of their health, educational and social needs. The experience of health services for children outside of a hospital environment is a vital part of paediatric training. This week will include sessions at a GP Surgery, a SILC (Specialist Inclusive Learning Centre), and 2 clinics in a Community Hub involving time spent with a doctor in a community clinic and with other Allied Health Professionals. These will be followed by a Focused Discussion Session. You may be able to spend time with the therapists (physio, OT and speech therapy) at the special school and in the community hub setting.

During your placement in community paediatrics, you may encounter children who display behaviours that challenge. This is especially likely in your school placement. Behaviours that challenge are linked with learning disability (or intellectual disability) and autism. Part of your experience in community paediatrics may be to learn by observation how behaviours that challenge are managed. Often the principles of positive behaviour support are used. You may find the following website helpful for information on positive behaviour support. Occasionally it can be distressing to observe challenging behaviour, or tricky to know how to respond for the best. If, during your time in community paediatrics, or in your school clinics, you encounter an experience you find distressing, please discuss it with local staff, or contact the community paediatrics link staff, or your paediatric tutor.

1. Integrated care across Primary, Secondary and Tertiary care.

   Role of primary care in dealing with common paediatric problems and the care of children in the context of the family.

   Role of Community Paediatrics in Secondary care by bridging the gap seamlessly between Primary Care, and Acute Secondary and Tertiary care

2. Environment: Children’s health, development and wellbeing is heavily influenced by their environment.

   Importance of Families (parenting/nurture), and the needs that are looked after by the local authority.

   Role of schools (learning and socialisation/peer groups).

   Other environments (sports/leisure/fun).

3. Gaining understanding of principles of inclusion of children with neurodisability and chronic health conditions as seen within school and community hub settings.
4. Seeing use of focus on function and participation (rather than fixing) in all contexts for children with chronic conditions, and neurodevelopmental problems.
5. Gaining understanding of the principles of multi-disciplinary care to improve the child and family’s functioning in a variety of community contexts.
6. Understanding the importance of active consideration of how to keep a child safe and the impact of abuse.
7. Gaining an understanding of Child Public Health issues within the context of the community e.g. malnutrition, (over and under), immunisation.
8. To become familiar with routine observation of a young child’s development in various settings.
9. To gain knowledge about how children with developmental delay present and when and to whom they should be referred for specialist assessment.
10. To gain an appreciation of the impact of deprivation on health and wellbeing, and on access to healthcare for children and young people.

Week 1 of your 6 week placement is intro week and this will be spent in the Medical School. On the Tuesday of intro week you will attend a session about community paediatrics which will be headed by a consultant community paediatrician from Leeds Community Healthcare Trust, ad they will explain what your week in community paediatrics will look like, and any specific requirements expected of you.

Other sites you may also be timetabled to attend for a placement with an Allied Health Professional (for example, SALT, physio, OT)

• Armley Leisure Centre, Carr Crofts, Armley, Leeds, LS12 3HB.

  Contact the placement provider directly via their mobile.

• General Practitioners providing community paediatric day placements
• Alwoodley Medical Centre, Saxon Mount, Leeds, LS17 5DT.
  • Phone: 0113 3930119
• City View Medical Practice, Floor 1, Beeston Hill Health Centre, 123 Cemetery Road, Holbeck, Leeds, LS11 8LH.
  • Phone: 0113 4677515
• Laurel Bank Surgery, 216b Kirkstall Road, Leeds, LS6 3DS.
  • Phone: 0113 2953900
• The Ridge Medical Practice, 6 Cousen Road, Bradford, BD7 3JX.
  • Phone: 01274 425600
• Thornton Medical Centre, 15 Green Lane, Leeds, LS12 1JE.
  • Phone: 0113 2310626

School placement sites

There are many SILC schools that provide placements for students undertaking their community paediatrics week. Each student will attend a school placement if their community week falls within term-time. The contact names, addresses and telephone numbers for these placements will be included within your timetable.

Click on the link below for clinic descriptors for the following services. This includes service information, aims of the service and resources.

• Paediatric Neuro-disability clinics
• Community Paediatric clinics
• Growth and nutrition
• Adoption and fostering
• Initial Health Needs Assessments
• Audiological medicine (doctor led) and Audiologist (audiologist-led) clinics
• Constipation and daytime wetting
• Children’s physiotherapy
• Children’s occupational therapy
• Speech and language therapy
• Complex development assessments
• Transition clinics
• SILC observation

Teaching methods

1. Self-directed learning exercises on normal child development and its variations and practice under direction of personal tutors.
2. Visits to schools, GP surgeries and community paediatric clinics and hubs.
3. Focused discussion and clinical scenario session: A workshop on child abuse, paediatric behavioural problems and common community paediatric issues
4. Individual case studies to work through
5. Small group discussion with community paediatrician to discuss community-based experiences and discussion of case studies.

We expect you to attend 100% of sessions on the programme as a mark of respect for your colleagues and particularly your patients. Failure to attend, or absence without permission, can have serious consequences and may result in you being excluded from the University.

MBChB attendance and absence student guidance

If you are unwell and unable to attend any of the clinics allocated in your timetable, please contact the Medical Education team at lcht.medicaleducation@nhs.net to let them know as soon as possible, and notify your placement office.

The School of Medicine, in collaboration with placement providers and students, has developed a dress code for MBChB and Physician Associate students while on clinical placement.

• Dress code guidance for clinical placement providers

You will be asked to give feedback via a QR code at the end of your focussed discussion and clinical scenario teaching session, and 3 out of the 5 cohorts will be asked to give more general feedback about Community Paediatrics at the end of their Paediatric ICU.

Clinical Placement Reporting tool

The medical school has a clinical placement reporting tool on their website where you can pass on comments about your placement in a ‘traffic light system’, for example, if you would like to put a particular doctor or therapist forward for a green card please use clinical placement reporting tool, then click on ‘Student – Commendation’ or ‘Student – Concern’.