The Community Paediatric Dietetic Team are a part of Children’s Integrated Community Health Services and the team are based at Callaghan House in Heywood, however clinical assessments may take place in different settings across the borough.
The team consists of three dietitians and one dietetic assistant.
Paediatric dietitians are specially trained to enable advanced nutritional care to be provided to infants, children and adolescents to promote optimal growth. They conduct dietetic assessments for a range of conditions and create nutrition interventions for families.
Conditions that dietitians can help to manage may include:
- Faltering growth
- Excess weight management
- Allergies
- Coeliac disease (diagnosis must be confirmed)
- Feeding difficulties
- Home enteral feeding
- Poor feeding and swallowing difficulties (assessed jointly with Speech & Language)
Please note, dietitians no longer see patients in clinic for selective eating without faltering growth, nutritional deficiencies or constipation. Instead, relevant resources will be sent to you.
Support staff will seek consent to take your child’s measurements such as weight and height / length. The dietitian will explore the referral reason with you and discuss relevant medical history and clinical presentation.
Your child’s eating and drinking will be discussed and assessed in relation to their measurements and nutritional requirements. A dietetic plan will be co-produced with the dietitian and family to optimise your child’s nutritional status.
At the end of the appointment, the review period will be agreed with you if required. You and your child’s GP will then receive a post consultation summary letter.
Children's Integrated Services, Callaghan House, Cross St, Heywood
We triage referrals for children and young people up to the age of 18 years, or 19 years if they have special educational needs or disability and are in full time education.
Referrals will be considered from:
- Consultant paediatricians
- GPs
- Health visitors
- Specialist nurses
- Acute healthcare professionals
At triage, if your child is not eligible for the paediatric dietetic service the referrer will be informed. Please note, we are not trained to manage avoidant restrictive feeding intake disorder (ARFID).
https://www.bda.uk.com/resource/healthy-eating-for-children.html
https://patientwebinars.co.uk/information-on-children/
https://www.allergyuk.org/resources/weaning-support-pack/
https://eric.org.uk/advice-for-children-with-constipation/
https://www.nhs.uk/healthier-families/recipes/healthier-lunchboxes/