Child development clinics

The Community Paediatrics Department runs a wide range of clinics for children at the Child Development Centre at Worthing Hospital.

Communication Clinic – preschool

This is a clinic for preschool children. You’ll be seen by a paediatrician (a doctor who specialises in the treatment of babies, children and young people) and a specialist speech and language therapist. The appointment will last about one hour.

Preschool Motor Clinic

This is a clinic for preschool children. You’ll be seen by a paediatrician and a specialist physiotherapist. The appointment will last about half an hour.

Multidisciplinary Clinic

This is a clinic for preschool children. You’ll be seen by a paediatrician, and a team of specialist therapists. Your appointment will last about an hour and a quarter.

General Community Paediatric Clinic

Our General Community Paediatric Clinic offers appointments for preschool and school-age children. These are held with a paediatrician and last about 30 to 60 minutes. Some of these clinics are held jointly with a specialist therapist depending on the child’s needs.

Coordination Assessment Clinic

This is a clinic for school-age children. You will be seen by a paediatrician, a specialist physiotherapist and an occupational therapist. Your appointment will last about an hour and a quarter.

Mainstream Motor Clinic

This is a clinic for school-age children. You will be seen by a paediatrician, a specialist physiotherapist and an occupational therapist. Your appointment will last about three quarters of an hour.

Special School Clinics

This is a clinic for children who attend special schools. Appointments may be held in the child’s school or at the Child Development Centre. Appointments last about 30–60 minutes.

Joint Clinics

We run clinics for some children and young people with the hospitals’ neurology, orthopaedics, adult neuro rehabilitation and paediatric surgery teams.

School-age Social Communication Clinic

We assess children aged 5-11 for social communication difficulties, including autism.

Read more about the social communication clinic

The CDC assesses children aged 5-11 for social communication difficulties, including autism.

There is exceptionally high demand for this service. We do not always assess every child referred. Often we will put families and schools in touch with more appropriate services instead.

The following organisations provide help for children before and after their assessment:

Local Offer

Website: https://westsussex.local-offer.org/

Reaching Families

Phone: 01903 366360

Email: [email protected]

Website: https://www.reachingfamilies.org.uk/

Early Help – Integrated Front Door

Phone: 01403 229900

Email: [email protected]

Coastal Mind

Website: https://westsussexmind.org

Aspens

Website: https://www.aspens.org.uk

West Sussex Parent Carer forum

Website: https://www.wspcf.org.uk

We assess different children in different ways. How long the assessment takes depends on the difficulties each child has. The assessment may include all or some of the following:

A medical history and examination by a doctor
A speech and language therapist assessing the child at school
A speech and language therapist assessing the child in the clinic
A clinical psychology assessment

Doctors and other healthcare professionals then have a meeting to discuss the assessment. One of the people involved will then talk you through the results.

Our community paediatricians also provide medical input for educational health and care plans, looked after children, adoption and fostering and safeguarding at the request of the relevant services.

Meet the team

Dr Sue Coldwell, Consultant Community Paediatrician
Dr Kate Fisher, Consultant Community Paediatrician
Dr Janetta Milea, Consultant Community Paediatrician
Dr Lucy Killian, Consultant Community Paediatrician
Dr Charlotte Pay, Speciality Doctor in Community Paediatrics
Dr Sinead Doyle, Consultant Community Paediatrician
Dr Victoria Figueira, Speciality Doctor in Community Paediatrics
Dr Caroline Pepper, Speciality Doctor in Community Paediatrics

Training doctors are part of our team but are always supervised by a consultant.

We also work with different types of therapists and other health professionals, within the hospitals and from Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust including: