Refer to us

In the Allergy Service we diagnose and manage children with a range of allergies including food, skin, drug and respiratory allergies.

Referrals are usually made by GPs, paediatricians in local hospitals or from other hospital departments including A&E, Gastroenterology, ENT, Dermatology and Respiratory.

Consultants are always happy to discuss patients with GPs or colleagues in other hospitals.

We now have a single point of access for all autism and ADHD referrals, to help us ensure you see the right team. Take a look at this flyer for more information Autism and ADHD single point of accesss.

Referring professionals will need to complete the referral front sheet and submit it with a clinic letter outlining the main reasons for referral (see forms and guidance below). GPs should send this via ERS and other external and internal professionals should send referrals direct to Ryegate Appointments (scn-tr.ryegate.appointments@nhs.net). Once received and being processed, the single point of access (SPA) will organise the collation of the relevant questionnaires with parents and schools.

Who can refer?

Our current accepted referrers are:

• GPs
• Educational psychologists
• Community paediatricians, neurodisability paediatricians and other Sheffield Children’s clinicians including, speech and language therapists, clinical psychologists and CAMHS clinicians
• Early years teachers

Sheffield Children’s Hospital is a Regional Burns Unit and takes children from as far north as Whitby, across to Hull and south to Chesterfield. We can also take children from across the country if there is a shortage of burns beds.

We can accept children and young people with burn injuries up to 30% body surface area. We take all types of burn injury including chemical and electrical burns and skin loss conditions, and we have intensive care support if required.

We also take infants with burns up to 30% depending on where and what their injuries are.

Every child is individually assessed and evaluated prior to admission.

Contact us

Ward Manager, Julie Baker: julie.baker@nhs.net
Burns Unit: 0114 226 0694 / 0114 226 0858
Main hospital switchboard: 0114 271 7000 and ask for the Burns Bleep Holder on 078 (this is the nurse in charge of the Burns Unit that day/night)
Fax: 0114 271 7167
Email: burnsunit@nhs.net

Theo’s Burns Club

Email: theosburnsclub@nhs.net

Lindsay Marris, Rebecca Tye, Kathryn Topham

Visit the (CAMHS) referrals page for detailed information about referring to different CAMHS services.

Our ME/CFS team is a specialist regional team with considerable expertise.

We see patients up to 18 years old from South Yorkshire and North Derbyshire.

Referring under 16s

Referral to the ME/CFS team is made by a paediatrician who has established a diagnosis of ME/CFS following completion of screening blood tests and excluding other possible diagnoses. NICE guidance recommends the following tests be completed:

• full blood count and film
• ESR
• CRP
• urea and electrolytes
• serum creatinine
• liver function tests
• IgA tissue transglutanimase Ab / endomysial antibody IgA coeliac disease
• thyroid function tests
• urinalysis for protein, blood and sugar
• serum glucose
• calcium profile
• creatine kinase
• serum ferritin levels

Please see NICE guideline [NG206] for further information.

Referring 16-18 year olds

Young people aged 16-18 can be referred directly to the ME/CFS Service by their GP once recommended screening tests have been completed and a provisional diagnosis of ME/CFS has been made following a minimum four month period of persistent symptoms.

Please see the referral guidance for more information.

Contact us

Please send all referrals to:

Dr Carrie Mackenzie, Consultant Paediatrician

Children & Young People Specialist Service for ME/CFS & Post Covid
Sheffield Children’s Hospital
Western Bank
Sheffield 
S10 2TN

Email: scn-tr.cfstherapy@nhs.net

Our Safeguarding Support Unit sees children and adolescents who may be experiencing abuse or neglect.

We provide a full paediatric assessment to children and young people where safeguarding concerns have been raised or where the opinion of a specialist paediatrician has been sought.

The unit also houses the Children’s Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC).

Assessment

We provide a holistic assessment for children referred to our unit which includes a consultation, comprehensive health check up and referral to other services if required.

Our assessments can lead to early indentification of problems so that appropriate support can be arranged for families.

We also have an on-site forensic suite where forensic examinations can be carried out.

Because of the expertise within the unit, we also do assessments for some gynaecological and other childhood conditions where there are no child protection considerations.

Referrals

We accept referrals to the Safeguarding Support Unit from social workers, police, health visitors, GPs and paediatricians.

Referrals to SARC should be from social workers or the police.

Contact us

All referrals should be made through the Safeguarding Support Unit secretary on 0114 226 7803.

Referrals can be made between 9am and 5pm, Monday to Friday excluding bank holidays.

Our Community Continence Service is able to offer advice and guidance, assessment and review for children and young people with continence problems under the age of 16 years old who live in Sheffield and/or have a Sheffield GP.

This includes day and night wetting, constipation and soiling, delayed toilet training and the provision of continence products.

We only accept referrals from GPs but are happy to give advice to GPs, Health Visitors, Community Nursery Nurses, School Nurses and MAST Support Workers, paediatric colleagues and allied health professionals.

We will only give parents/carers telephone advice if their child is under our service.

Inpatients
Ward based verbal/written referrals from nursing and medical staff and other healthcare professionals.

Written and verbal referrals from Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, doctors and health care professionals.

Specialist clinics

As part of multi-disciplinary team direct.

Outpatients

Trust referrals. Direct written referrals from GPs and other community based staff (with agreement of GP) for patients with complex disorders or requiring complex dietary management.

Visit the Embrace area for detailed referral information.

Sheffield Children’s Hospital is a Principal Treatment Centre for childhood leukaemias and has a fully accredited stem cell (bone marrow) transplant service.

We are a specialist centre for haemoglobinopathies and a Comprehensive Care Centre for haemophilia.

If you wish to speak to one of the team during the working day please contact the appropriate consultant for these different areas of work as set out below. Out of hours there is always a Haematology Consultant on call who can be contacted to discuss any haematology problem.

If you wish to make a written referral, please address according to the clinical problem:

• Leukaemia and Transplant – lead clinician Dr Katharine Patrick
• Haemostasis and Thrombosis (haemophilia, anticoagulation) – lead clinician Dr Jeanette Payne
• Red Cell Disorders (sickle cell and thalassaemia) and Transfusion – lead clinician Dr Emma Astwood

We hold a weekly clinic for general haematology patients, including new referrals, which can be accessed via a referral letter.

However if you think that a patient should be seen urgently for a probable haematology problem please telephone the consultant or specialist registrar on call to discuss. They will be able to advise on the best course of action (which may be a ward review if no suitable clinic slot is available soon enough). This always works best if there is a referrer to doctor conversation in the first instance, followed by a written (faxed or posted) referral.

Two week wait referrals should be made in the normal way, but in our experience children referred by this route do not usually have any serious pathology.

If in doubt please telephone us.

Contact us

Department of Paediatric Haematology
Sheffield Children’s Hospital
Western Bank
Sheffield
S10 2TH

Haematology secretaries: 0114 271 7477
Switchboard: 0114 271 2700 (out of hours)
Fax: 0114 276 2289

We accept referrals from professionals where there is a concern about hearing or where a hearing assessment is indicated e.g. following routine school entry hearing screen, Newborn Hearing Screening Programme or serious illness such as meningitis.

All children referred will be seen within six weeks and urgent referrals will be seen within a week. If children fail to attend their first appointment, they will be self-discharged and a letter to this effect will be sent to the parents, Health Visitor or School Nurse, GP and Referrer.

Making a referral

Staff within Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust can refer using the universal referral form (available on the staff intranet).

Referrals can also be made by letter stating the reason for the request and the child’s details.

Please include as much information as possible, particularly about the child’s behaviour, language development, and general development.

A telephone number is really useful as we operate a reminder service. If an interpreter is required, please state this clearly.

Triage

Referrals will be triaged and allocated to an appropriate clinic. Parents are sent out lots of information with the appointment letter to prepare them and their child for the appointment.

Appointments

We offer appointments in the evening as well as during the day to increase patient choice. We also offer outreach clinics carried out off site in the community for accessibility.

If a hearing loss is discovered we will refer the child on to the appropriate consultant. For temporary conductive hearing losses this would be the ENT team, and the audiovestibular physician for management of children with known or suspected sensorineural hearing loss, tinnitus and balance problems.

Contact us

Telephone: 0114 271 7450
Text phone: 07854 089810
Fax: 0114 271 7463
Email: scn-tr.audiology@nhs.net

Referrals

Email: sch.audiologyreferrals@nhs.net
Fax: 0114 271 7463
Post: send first class to Hearing Services, Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, Western Bank, Sheffield, S10 2TH.

Other contact numbers

For impressions for replacement earmoulds or for a lost or faulty hearing aid please call Workshop 0114 271 7462 or Reception on 0114 271 7450.

The Newborn Hearing Screening Programme (NHSP) tests children up to three months old and is based at the Jessop Wing of Sheffield Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. Telephone 0114 226 8292.

Professionals referring to the Helena nursing service for short term community input can use the multiprofessional referral form.

Referral is encouraged for children with central motor disabilities, epilepsy and other complex paroxysmal disorders, acquired neurological disorders, neuromuscular disorders, movement disorders (including tic disorders) and other central and peripheral neurological disorders.

Referrals with headache should usually be triaged through general paediatric clinics unless complex and refractory. Referrals into the specialist clinics (other than epilepsy clinics) is usually from paediatricians or neurologists.

Outpatient referrals are accepted directly from primary care or from secondary or tertiary centres. Inpatient referrals are accepted from paediatricians other than in exceptional circumstances. Although all the neurologists will see general neurological referrals, individual neurologists take the lead for different components of the neurology service.

Contact us

Neurology Department
Ryegate Children’s Centre
Tapton Crescent Road
Sheffield
S10 5DD

Outpatient clinic enquiries: 0114 211 1222
Switchboard: 0114 271 7000

Our Haematology and Oncology Department provides a service for the management of childhood cancer and blood diseases.

We see patients aged 0-15 years from the South Yorkshire region extending to the East Coast at Grimsby; a population of roughly 2.5 million.

We provide a service for the diagnosis, treatment and long term follow up of children with cancer and are a JACIE accredited transplant centre for under 16 year olds. As members of the Children’s Cancer and Leukaemia Group (CCLG – previously the UKCCSG) we are involved in national studies to improve treatments and outcomes for these patients.

Referral information

Our Initial Referral Protocol document gives detailed guidance and contact information for all healthcare professionals wishing to refer to our service including:

• background
• telephone advice
• primary care referrals
• secondary care referrals
  • extracranial solid tumours or leukaemia
  • brain tumour
  • bone tumours and retinoblastoma
  • late effects patients
• advice on aspects of care for existing patients

Contact us

Consultant Paediatric Haematologists

Dr Katharine Patrick – Leukaemia and Transplant

Dr Jeanette Payne – Leukaemia and Haemophilia / bleeding disorders and thrombosis

Haematology secretaries: 0114 271 7477

Consultant Paediatric Oncologists

Dr Vicki Lee – Brain tumours, Bone tumours, Retinoblastomas
Dr Anna Jenkins – Solid tumours (including lymphomas), Late effects
Dr Dan Yeomanson – Solid tumours (including lymphomas)

Oncology secretaries: 0114 271 7366

Hospital switchboard: 0114 271 2700
Fax: 0114 276 2289

The Ophthalmology (Eye) Department accepts referrals from GPs, Health Visitors, School Nurses, Optometrists, School Entry Vision Screening Team, Paediatricians, Ophthalmologists, Rheumatologists, the Oncology Department, the Audiology Department, the Jessop Wing Neonatal Department and any other medical professionals.

Making a referral

Appointments for consultant Ophthalmology clinics, Combined Optometry/Orthoptic clinics and Cyst clinic can be made by GPs via Choose and Book services.

All other referrals should be made by letter including the child’s previous medical history where possible, any other needs or difficulties and details of social circumstances where applicable.

Health Visitors, School Nurses and Community Paediatricians within Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust can refer using the universal referral form (available on the staff intranet) attaching any relevant documents such as developmental assessment clinic report.

We only accept email referrals via an nhs.net account. Please contact us for our email address if you require this.

Emergencies

Emergency eye care is provided up to the age of 16 years via the Emergency Department at Sheffield Children’s Hospital 365 days a year 24 hours a day.

GPs or local/regional departments needing emergency advice can also contact the on call Ophthalmology team via the Royal Hallamshire switchboard 0114 271 1900.

Triage

Referrals will be triaged and allocated to an appropriate clinic.

Appointments

Ophthalmology services are provided on the main Children’s Hospital site and at Ryegate Children’s Centre.

We also offer outreach Orthoptic clinics at the Northern General Hospital Outpatient Department.

Opening times

Monday to Friday 8.30am to 5.00pm.

Contact us

Eye Department Secretaries

0114 271 7468
0114 271 7520
0114 271 7713
Fax 0114 271 7281

School Entry Vision Screening Team – 0114 305 3060

New referrals team (RBMS) – 0114 305 3690

The Ryegate Children’s Centre Eye Department – 0114 271 7616

Our Respiratory Service has a very high inpatient commitment due to the complex nature of the medical problems of many of our patients and the high rate of referrals for other services including general medical, intensive care, surgical and oncology services.

The service undertakes more than 100 bronchoscopies per year and looks after more than 50 children per annum with empyema, the majority requiring chest drains.

Complex imaging is available in conjunction with the excellent radiology department.

Refer to us

Referral from GPs is to the general respiratory clinics. GPs can also refer to sleep or allergy clinics.

Access to chronic lung disease, home ventilation, difficult asthma clinics, physiology and joint clinics is by internal referral, either from within the Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust or from regional hospitals.

We are a tertiary Paediatric Sleep Service and offer a full range of sleep monitoring and treatment including oximetry, oxicapnography, actigraphy, polysomnography (including EEG montage), MSLT, CPAP and BiPAP establishment and titration.

We welcome referrals from within and outside the region from any healthcare professional.

The Sleep Clinic takes place every Monday afternoon in the Outpatient Department.

The Sleep Unit is open every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday evening from 6.30pm till 7.30am.

The following guidelines will help to identify children who would benefit from referral to Speech and Language Therapy.

Factors to consider

Children having difficulties with any aspect of communication should be observed closely, monitored and referred as appropriate

• early referral for assessment is essential to allow intervention as early as possible
• there is a wide variation in language learning between children

Risk factors

Consider factors which may increase the risk of speech, language and communication difficulties including:

• family history of speech/language problems (including reading and writing)
• general developmental delay
• other related medical conditions
• hearing loss
• cognitive delay
• behaviour disorder
• autism
• any home circumstances resulting in restricted language used with the child

Or if you or the parents/carers:

• think that the child is finding learning to talk/communicate difficult in any way
• think that other people are finding it difficult to understand the child
• notice the child is showing signs of being upset or frustrated about his/her speaking
• are concerned
• think that the child is finding social interaction difficult in any way
• notice the child has poor attention and listening

In any child presenting with communication difficulties, it is essential to exclude hearing loss by referral to Hearing Services.

When considering referral look at the following warning signs which are based on the expected language skills for preschool children.

No one sign is an indicator for referral on its own. The referrer needs to consider the child’s general developmental level as well as the language skills and communication, the environment, the parent(s)/carer(s)’ report and the pattern of development including recent change, as outlined above.

Warning signs

When to refer

As early as possible when you have identified a difficulty to ensure early identification and intervention for children and families.

How to refer

Fill in a universal referral form or a pre-school and schools referral form and email to: scn-tr.slt-sheffield@nhs.net
Or post to:

Speech and Language Therapy
Flockton House
18-20 Union Road
Sheffield
S11 9EF

Alternatively, you can phone 0114 226 2335 (Early Years) or 0114 226 2333 (Schools Team and Special Needs Team) and give the details over the phone – please make sure to have all the information needed on the form.

Parents will need to consent to the referral before it is made.

For eating and swallowing community referrals

For a feeding assessment and support, please complete the Community Referral Form on page 5 of the Referral Guidelines Community Feeding document below. 

For a videofluoroscopy referral

We are no longer accepting paper referrals for a videofluoroscopy study from out of area consultants. An electronic videofluoroscopy referral will only be accepted from a child’s paediatric consultant.

Contact us

Head of Service: Deborah Newman
Deputy Head of Service: Bev Charles
Service Manager: Lucy Hathaway
Admin Team Leader: Maxine Hampshire
Early Years Team Leaders: Bev Charles and Dana Welch
Mainstream Schools Team Leaders: Alice Woods and Tom Endacott
Specialist Schools Team Leader: Sally Twigg

Address:

Speech and Language Therapy
Flockton House
18-20 Union Road
Sheffield
S11 9EF

Tel: 0114 226 2333

Email: scn-tr.slt-sheffield@nhs.net

Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, partnering with SHINE Health Academy, have been commissioned to provide this service for South Yorkshire, with the support of the South Yorkshire Integrated Care Board.

The service has capacity for a minimum 100 new referrals each year and has a biopsychosocial delivery model, connecting with families, children and young people in their local communities.

The service is intended for those children and young people, up to the age of 15 years and 11 months, who have significant complications related to their weight or who are at extreme risk of developing complications due to their weight.                                                              

The referral criteria

• BMI > 99.6^th centile plus two weight-related co-morbidities
• BMI SDS > + 3.3 without co-morbidities
• Co-morbidities include – psychosocial problems, significant joint or mobility problems, obstructive sleep apnoea, idiopathic intracranial hypertension, insulin resistance, Type 2 diabetes, polycystic ovarian syndrome, fatty liver disease, hypertension and dyslipidaemia

Where possible, this service should not be the first service referral for an intervention in relation to a child’s weight. It is expected that the child or young person will already have been referred to, and have completed, a local community weight management programme before they are referred to this new service (unless there are specific reasons or circumstances that this has not been possible).

What needs to happen before making the referral

Screening for comorbidities is required before referral. Children will not be accepted into the service unless the following information is included

• T4, and TSH
• Vitamin D level
• Urea and electrolytes, Liver function tests
• HbA1c, fasting insulin, fasting glucose and lipids
• Recent height and weight, not only BMI
• Details of community weight management programme completed (where & when)

• If the child snores & tonsils are enlarged, please also refer to Ear Nose and Throat
• If ALT > 3 x upper limit of normal, or raised with a family history of liver disease, please also refer to Hepatology at Sheffield Children’s.
• A diagnosis of hypertension should be supported by 24 hr ambulatory BP monitoring or regular home BP monitoring and not with isolated clinic recordings