Preschool Developmental Nursing Service

Pre-school Developmental Nursing Service at Longland’s Child Development Centre. 

What we do

We are a small team of specialist nurses/practitioners who see pre-school children with a range of developmental needs including developmental delay, autism spectrum condition, complex health conditions and physical/medical concerns. We work alongside paediatricians in Longlands Child Development Centre to review children’s current presentation and build a plan based on an understanding of their needs. This may also involve seeing a child in different environments such as clinic, nursery and your own home.  

We provide a specialist assessment called the Schedule of Growing Skills (SOGS) that can be completed during your first appointment with your community paediatrician. The assessment focuses on the child’s strengths and challenges to provide a detailed developmental profile that can support and aid your Child’s plan. We can assure you that we want the best possible outcome for your child. 

There may be areas where you need specialist advice, support and information. After the appointment with the paediatrician we can offer a home visit to further support. One home visit will be offered and then if required further support will be offered over the phone or you can arrange to come to see us at the Child Development Centre.  

We work closely with the Early Years Pathway Navigator who provides support and advice to families whose children are on the early years social communication pathway. They will also support the understanding of the pathway from initial assessment to post diagnosis support and be the main contact for families throughout of process. The navigator will provide signposting information to national and local support.

Episode of care packages

As part of our service we can offer specific interventions called ‘episodes of care’ tailored to your particular need at that time.  

What we can help with

Support and advice - We can work with you to identify areas of support you feel you may need. We can signpost or refer you to other services who would be of benefit to you and your child. This includes preparing for beyond preschool age.  

Development - Usually a developmental assessment is carried out in the clinic with the paediatrician but at times this may be difficult and your child may not want to engage therefore we may carry this out in a different setting such as home or nursery.

Sleep - We can offer support with any sleep issues your child may be having due to their additional needs. 

Toileting - We can offer toileting support for children with additional needs, ensuring your child has the best start to toilet training by ensuring a healthy bowel and bladder.  

Behaviour – We can support you with challenging behaviour by offering some initial advice and if appropriate signposting or referring to other services who are best equipped to support you.  

How you can be referred

We can work with any pre-school child who has been referred to the child development centre.  

We will explain our service at your initial appointment and as part of your assessment we will identify any episodes of care we can support with. We will allocate you a practitioner to complete an episode of care in the area of need and you will be contacted to arrange the support.   

If at this time no need is identified, you can contact us at any point by contacting our admin team or ask your paediatrician/health professional involved in your child’s care who can request the support for you. ICNT Admin Support – 01524 591671