Bassetlaw: General Development Assessment information

On this page you will see information on Bassetlaw neurodevelopment assessments for young people including referrals, pathway details, who is involved and how long the process will take. 

How can I get a referral?

Schools support children with additional needs through an ‘assess, plan, do and review’ graduated response which means that early years services and schools will lead on the request for assessment, not GPs. 

This is because they will have more information about children, information that clinicians need to be able to make a good assessment. Early years services and schools will be supported by practitioners from the healthy families Team.

You will need to contact the school's early years service /staff and they will assess needs and will try to optimise help and support set up a review process in which a child's health information is gathered at school.  Should the concerns continue and a neurodevelopmental assessment is felt appropriate, the school team will make a referral to community paediatricians.

What if my child isn't in an early year setting?

If a child is not in an early years setting or is being educated at home, the Healthy Families practitioner will lead on submitting a request for assessment.

Who is involved? 

Healthy Families Team

Healthy Family Teams are part of the Healthy Families Programme, an integrated service for children, young people and families which brings together care provided by health visitors, school nurses, the Family Nurse Partnership Programme (for first time teenage mums) and the National Childhood Measurement Programme.

Phone: 01777 274422

Website: Healthy Families

What is the process for referral? 

At school the 'assess, plan, do and review' process will take place which includes the following steps:

1. Identified need: What is the identified need of the child and why would a general developmental assessment help?

2. Service leads on assess, plan, do and review process: Engaging with family/carers and other professionals involved

3. Service to complete two cycles of support plans over at least one school term

4. Service to contact Healthy Families Team for the required health information

General Development Assessment

After the school completes the above process, the child will be referred to the community paediatrician who will complete the General Development Assessment. 

Inappropriate or incomplete referrals or those lacking evidence of pre-referral support and intervention, may be declined. 

After completing the GDA, the paediatrician will decide which steps the child should take next.

ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) Pathway

• If the community paediatrician doing General Developmental Assessment suspects ADHD, they will make a referral to Bassetlaw Multidisciplinary ADHD assessment team.
• The referral will be triaged by the ADHD assessment team and outcome of the triage will be communicated to parents, GP, School and the referring paediatrician.
• If the child is accepted for ADHD assessment, he / she will go on waiting list and family will be offered appointment in due course of time.
• If the child is diagnosed with ADHD, he/she will be offered follow up appointment with his referring community paediatrician for consideration of medication. They will have a regular review, generally every 6 months.
• If the child need to continue ADHD medication into their adulthood, they will be transitioned to Adult ADHD service at the age of 18.
• In addition to medication, children with ADHD will need to access help and support through school and community based services.

Autism Pathway

• Should the community paediatrician doing GDA suspect Autism, he / she will refer to multidisciplinary autism assessment team.
• The referral will be triaged by the autism assessment team and outcome of the triage will be communicated to parents, GP, School and the referring paediatrician.
• If the child is accepted for Autism assessment, he / she will go on waiting list and family will be offered appointment in due course of time.
• If the child is diagnosed with Autism, family and school will receive feedback and detailed report containing information on help and support. The child will be discharged. 
• The target is to complete this pathway within 14 weeks. For more information on Autism assessments click here.