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Press Release: Great start for the new children and young people referral service

Surrey families with children who need more specialised health services are already benefiting from a new, centralised referral and triage service. The Children and Family Health Surrey (CFHS) One Stop was launched Surrey-wide on 31st October after going live for referrers in mid-Surrey in July. It has meant that children and young people with additional needs can be referred to the most appropriate services for them in a more timely and efficient way.

The CFHS One Stop is also the central referral hub for all new requests for contributions for Education, Health and Care Plans from Developmental Paediatricians and Paediatric Therapies.

Rhiannon Thomas, CFHS One Stop Service Director says:

“The service has recorded approximately a four fold increase in referrals in November compared to previous months. In November there were more than 1115 referrals received, 210 of these referrals came from GPs and over 150 from Health Visitors. The Developmental Paediatrics and Early Years Speech and Language Therapy services received the most referrals - over 200 each, with Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy the next most numerous – receiving approximately 100 referrals for each service”.

Referrals to the CFHS One Stop are triaged by a specialist team of nurses and paediatric therapists from a range of backgrounds, including health visiting and complex care. They ensure that the children and young people with additional needs are triaged into the most appropriate service and are therefore seen by the right health professional, first time.

Rhiannon Thomas, CFHS One Stop Service Director continues:

“The goal for the Children and Family Health One Stop service is to improve the experience of referrals into services for children and young people and their parents and carers and, in doing so, assist health professionals with clear and timely communication. This will minimise delays in accessing services and treatment, thus improving outcomes for the children and families’ experiences of local health services.”

The CFHS One Stop service, has been developed and launched within just six months by Surrey’s new provider of children’s NHS community services, Children and Family Health Surrey.

Sarah Baker, Children and Family Health Surrey Interim Director, says:

”Our aim is to ensure effective and timely triaging of referrals for children and young people with additional needs. We want to ensure the best quality of care at the right time and in the right place. These figures are encouraging and we are very pleased with these results. This is a very good achievement for Children and Family Health Surrey as the new Surrey-wide service provider.”

You can access full press release here