About
All requests for neurodevelopmental assessments should follow the pre-assessment pathway. This may result in a referral for Autism and/or ADHD being made along with the completion of a next steps form (if appropriate).
If you would like support in completing this form, we would advise you to ask whoever you think is best placed to help. This might be someone at your child’s school (a SENCO for example), or someone else who is working with you (such as a PFSA , Social Worker or health practitioner).
Triage
All new requests for a neurodevelopmental assessment are triaged by a member of the Children and Young People Neurodevelopmental Partnership clinical team.
Where there is additional complexity, triaging clinicians can request the information be reviewed by a member of the CYPNP clinical leadership team. This will be by placing them on the agenda for discussion at regular Multi-disciplinary Team (MDT) Triage meetings.
In exceptional circumstances where there is significant complexity that requires additional information that is likely to be available through local authority systems (such as through Children’s Social Care and/or Education records), young people may subsequently be put forward for more in-depth consideration of their referral through discussion with interagency colleagues from across the local system in a regular Interagency MDT Triage meeting.
The Interagency MDT Triage team also consider requests for expedition using the policy below, for example where children waiting for assessment from another NHS service are moving into Somerset. Or where there is imminent risk of harm and an assessment is essential to informing the intervention or support plan, such as significant mental health concerns, criminal activity or risky behaviour.
The assessment pathway for the child or young person will then depend on the age of the child or young person.
