Children’s Occupational Therapy Service 

Our team are skilled in the assessment of a child’s everyday activities which may impact of their access and participation in their environment.

We are able to provide analysis and adaptation of activities and recommendations to improve a child’s occupational performance and outcomes across a range of areas.

The children’s occupational therapy service will offer:

• Specialist Assessment of a child’s needs and identification of outcomes and goals for the child
• Advice and Intervention on the basis of assessment of clinical need
• An individual management plan developed and agreed with the young person, parents and carers as appropriate
• Evaluation of outcomes and future plans
• Advice on Transition and Discharge.

The children’s occupational therapy team work with children presenting with a range of physical and pervasive developmental conditions, complex needs and functional difficulties.

Children, young people and their families can access expert knowledge in the following areas:

• Developmental Delay
• Neurological conditions
• Sensory processing
• Feeding Diffculties 
• Independence Skills (self-Care)
• Motor Co-ordination Difficulties and Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD)
• Fine Motor skills, including handwriting
• Neuromuscular conditions
• Rehabilitation for children and young people following injury/accident
• Hospital discharge planning.

Who can refer?
Referrals can be received via Paediactricans, GP, Health Professionals or Educational Professionals. Referrals should be made by a letter or completion of the  Occupatioanl therapsy referral form with consent from the family. Families can request any relevant professional to refer on their behalf.

Education professionals, Nurses and Health Visitors making a referral -   Are required to attend a pre referral meeting to discuss the child / young person's needs, to establish whether a referral is appropriate to make. Referrals that have not been discussed at a pre referral meeting will be returned.  Pre referral meetings run daily  during term time from 8.30am till 9.30am via Teams. If you require the link please contact the paediatric therapy admin team. 

Paediatricians, GP's, Speech and Language Therapist and Child Adolescence Mental Health service   - When making a referral for a sensory processing assessment the referral letter or completed occupational therapy referral form needs to be attached to a completed parental questionnaire. 

Referrals are accepted by post or email to the address below:

Children’s Occupational Therapy Service
Platt Bridge Health Centre
Rivington Avenue
Platt Bridge
Wigan
WN2 5NG

or

Email: wwl-tr.paedtherapyadmin@nhs.net 

All referals will be triaged by an occupational therapist in line with service critera, to determine if the occupational therapy service is the most appropriate service to meet the child or young persons needs.  

Service Overview

Our Occupational Therapy feeding service supports children from the early stages of weaning onto solid foods through to adolescence, up to the age of 16 (19 for those in special school settings). As Occupational Therapists, we focus on the sensory skills required for feeding, and we offer specialist support across four key areas: 

• Food Foundations for infants and children who are struggling with the weaning process or are PEG-fed and weaning onto solid foods
• Food Explorers for children working at a preschool developmental level who learn best through play and exploration
• Food Scientists and Food Investigators for primary and high school aged children who are able to engage in practical food preparation tasks and conversations regarding foods

 

Our process begins with a parent questionnaire, followed by a phone-based assessment. Where appropriate, we then provide a structured block of six small-group feeding therapy sessions, incorporating advice for parents and carers to support progress at home.

 

Referral Criteria

To be eligible for referral to the OT feeding service, the following criteria must be met:

 

Sensory Processing Concerns (The child must meet at least one criteria in this section)

The child demonstrates difficulties with sensory processing, which may include but are not limited to:

• Over-sensitivity or under-sensitivity to textures, tastes, smells, or temperatures of foods.
• Difficulty tolerating certain food consistencies or textures (e.g., aversion to certain textures like crunchy, slimy, or lumpy foods).
• Avoidance behaviours such as gagging, vomiting, or refusal to eat specific food types or in different environments.

 

Feeding Challenges (The child must meet at least one criteria in this section)

The child experiences one or more of the following challenges related to eating and drinking:

• Limited food repertoire (refusal to try new or different foods).
• Sensory-based food aversions or preferences (e.g., only eating certain foods or textures).
• Difficulty with self-feeding or managing utensils due to sensory sensitivities.
• Difficulty transitioning to different food textures (e.g., moving from pureed to solid foods).

 

Developmental Readiness (The child must meet all criteria in this section)

The child must be working at a developmental level where they are able to sit and engage in play-based or food exploration activities. This includes:

• Ability to sit and engage in an activity for short periods of time (with or without support).
• Engagement in developmentally-appropriate play activities (e.g., engaging with toys, imitating actions, or participating in simple turn-taking games).
• Participation in mealtime routines, such as sitting at the table or interacting with food in a play-based or exploratory manner.

 

Optional Additional Criteria:

Impact on Health and Nutrition

Feeding difficulties have a significant impact on the individual’s nutritional intake, health, and growth, as evidenced by:

• Inadequate weight gain or poor growth.
• Frequent refusal to eat meals or snacks.
• Excessive mealtime struggles or prolonged feeding times.

 

Functional Impact

The sensory-related feeding issues interfere with daily activities, including but not limited to:

• Difficulty eating meals with family or in social settings due to sensory aversions.
• Avoidance of mealtime participation or social situations that involve food.

 

Exclusion Criteria

Referrals will not be considered in the following circumstances:

• Feeding difficulties are primarily related to medical or physical conditions (e.g., reflux, gastrointestinal issues, oral-motor dysfunction not related to sensory processing).
• The individual has a primary diagnosis of an eating disorder (e.g., anorexia nervosa, bulimia, ARFID).
• Significant developmental or cognitive delays that affect the child’s ability to engage in the feeding therapy.

 

Referral Process:

Referrals can be made for a feeding assessment by healthcare and education professionals using the NHS Feeding Referral Form (Professionals) which is completed via Microsoft Forms. Please contact the service for the link to this form on 0300 707 1476 or email wwl-tr.paedtherapyadmin@nhs.net 

 

 

The Sensory Processing element of the service provides assessment for school aged children, up to nineteen years of age if attending a specialist school / college setting.

 

The occupational therapist may complete a sensory processing assessment if they believed the child’s difficulties with achieving independence in everyday activities such as dressing, motor coordination or ability to function in the classroom environment is  based in sensory processing differences.

 

Our assessment process will begin with an initial assessment completed either virtually or by telephone. This appointment is necessary to gain an understanding of the child’s development to date and participation challenges. To ensure a full picture of the child’s difficulties are discussed openly, without negative effect on the child we often complete the initial assessment without the child present.

 

On completion of the initial assessment the therapist will decide what areas of difficulty require further assessment. This may include a face-to-face assessment of the child in clinic, in the home, or in the school setting, observations of the child in the school setting and liaison with education staff who know the child well. We often use a combination of standardised and non-standardised assessment tools to determine if sensory processing differences are impacting the child’s ability to achieve functional skills.

 

On completion of the assessment the occupational therapist will discuss the assessment findings and how these relate to the child’s participation challenges with the child and parent / guardian. In conjunction with the child and their parent / guardian the therapist will establish therapy outcomes and discuss the most appropriate intervention required to support the child’s identified needs and achieve their therapy outcomes. This may include: -

• Sign posting or making a referral onto other relevant services.
• Offering pre-recorded training packages.
• Suggesting strategies and environmental adaptations to support the child sensory processing needs.
• Providing generic or individualised sensory activities /programmes to support the child’s sensory processing needs.
• Offering a block of face-to-face intervention.
• Discharge from the service.

 

On completion of intervention the therapist will arrange a review of the child’s occupational therapy needs. The outcome of the review may include further intervention or discharge from the service. The occupational therapist will discharge the child when:

• Occupational therapy outcomes have been achieved.
• The therapist identifies no further input from the service is require or appropriate at that time.

Further information on discharge is available in the ‘Moving On’ section.

 

Please Note - At the present time we do not offer a sensory processing assessment for children who are younger than school age. To support parent to address perceived sensory processing differences in this age range we offer parental workshops that run once a month. Details of the parent workshops can be accessed via the ‘training opportunities’ page.

 

At present, children who are undergoing an assessment for ADHD do not meet our criteria for a sensory processing assessment. On completion of the ADHD assessment, regardless of diagnostic outcome, a referral to the Occupational Therapy service for consideration of a sensory processing assessment can be made.

 

Initial Assessment and Review Appointments

Appointments take place at the following Health Centres:

Leigh Health Centre
Children’s Service
The Avenue
Leigh
WN7 1HR
Tel: 0300 707 1476

Car Parking

Car parking is available at the rear of the Walk-in-Centre.

Platt Bridge Health Centre
First Floor Children’s Service
Rivington Avenue
Platt Bridge
Wigan
WN2 5NG
Tel: 0300 707 1476

Car Parking

Parking is avaliable at Platt Bridge 

Evidence shows that the best results are achieved when we work with those in daily contact with the child and young person.

This enables those around the child to promote skills to their full potential in a variety of meaningful environments.

For the Occupational Therapy service this means working with a variety of settings and with a variety of other people including parents and professionals.

The aim is to form a partnership with families and professionals to support others to maximise their child’s potential.

Parents are a significant member of the team who hold a unique insight into their child and whose contribution we value.
Occupational Therapist’s work closely with other health colleagues to provide an integrated approach to management.

This includes other health services:

• Children’s Physiotherapy Service
• Children’s Speech and Language Therapy Service
• Children’s Early Years Assessment
• Children’s Community Nursing Team
• Wheelchair Service
• Health Visiting Service
• School Nursing Service

The occupational therapist’s will also work closely with any other health colleagues who are involved in the child’s care, such as the child’s Paediatrician, GP and professionals within the local and tertiary centres.

Close working with partners from education, including nurseries and schools are advocated within the service, in order that we are able to provide the best support and approaches in developing the child’s skills and functioning in their education setting.

We also work alongside colleagues in the local authority, including social services occupational therapists and social care.

Once the child or young person’s occupational therapy needs are met then a child will be discharged from the service. This may be for reasons including:

• Skills are at an optimum level
• Parents and other professionals working with the child are able to implement the advice and strategies to enable increased participation in daily activities
• Difficulties no longer have significant impact upon the child’s development
• Resolution of difficulties with no ongoing needs
• Child moves out of area in terms of home address, GP and school
• A child or family declines input from the service at this time.

The decision to discharge will always be discussed and agreed with the child or young person, their family and other relevant professionals.

A re-referral to the service coud be made, should need change.

If a young person reaches the maximum criteria age within the service and there are still ongoing occupational therapy needs then a referral to the appropriate adult occupational therapy service will be made. Collaboration and joint appointments where appropriate will be facilitated in order to facilitate the transition to adult services.

Platt Bridge Health Centre
Rivington Avenue
Platt Bridge
Wigan
WN2 5NG

Telephone: 0300 707 1476

Email address: wwl-tr.paedtherapyadmin@nhs.net 

We offer training courses run by the Paediatric Occupational Therapy Service and will include interactive workshops.

• Handwritting/fine motor.
• Sensory parent Workshop (0 - 5) 
  • July - December 2025
• Sensory Circuits.
• Feeding.

Please contact the department for further infomation. 

Wigan SEND local offer 

Embrace Wigan and Leigh
Embrace Wigan and Leigh is a user-led charity dedicated to helping people with any type of disability and their families who live, work or use services primarily within the borough of Wigan, gain the support they need to live a fulfilling life.

Start Well Wigan
Up-to-date information relating to children and younger people’s services for the five localities in Wigan Borough.

The Dyspraxia Foundation
The Dyspraxia Foundation is a country wide charity, founded in 1987 as the Dyspraxia Trust by two mothers who met at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Sick Children.

The National Autistic Society
Provide information, support and pioneering services, and campaign for a better world for autistic people.

Scope
Provide support, information and advice to more than a quarter of a million disabled people and their families every year.

Kidz to Adultz North
Kidz to Adultz up North is the UK’s largest exhibition totally dedicated to children with disabilities and special needs, their parents and carers and the professionals who work with them.

Wigan Youth Zone
Wigan Youth Zone offers young people from across Wigan the opportunity to meet friends, have new experiences, learn new skills and access the support they need to develop and achieve their potential. 

Q) What happens if I miss an appointment?
If you know in advance that you can’t make a pre-arranged appointment then please contact Platt Bridge Health Centre on 0300 707 1476 where we will re-arrange your appointment.

If the appointment time and date has passed and you have not contacted the service to notify of non-attendance then the patient will be discharged from the service in line with Trust policy 

If your child still has on-going occupational therapy needs please call to discuss this further.

Q) How long will the initial assessment take?
An Initial appointments will usually take approximately 60-90 minutes, however further assessment maybe required.

Q) Where will initial assessments take place?
Routinely initial assessments are held either virtually or Face to face dependent on the pathway the child is placed on. For further information please call the Occupational Therapy service on 0300 707 1476. 

Q) What will the assessment involve?
The occupational therapist will gather information around your child’s current needs. The assessment may also involve your child participating in a range of activities.

Q) Is the Occupational Therapy service fully accessible?
All buildings used by the team are fully accessible and contain appropriate facilities for families and children with additional needs.

Q) Is Car parking available at Leigh Health Centre and Platt Bridge Health Centre?
Yes.