Specialist Treatment for Children & Young People with Fatigue |
B11
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Information for GPs and Referrers
Information for GPs and Referrers
Our service offers intervention to any young person under the age of 18 with fatigue, who needs help getting better. Our interventions are individually tailored; this means we can help a wide range of young people, whether they have mild fatigue and need a little help, or have more severe fatigue.
Funding
Our locally commissioned area includes BaNES, Wiltshire, Somerset, Gloucestershire, South Gloucestershire and Bristol. All other locations are deemed to be outside of our commissioned catchment area.
Referrals received from outside our commissioned catchment area, where no equivalent local service exists, cannot be accepted without prior funding approval. In such cases, the referring organisation (for example a GP or Paediatrician) must obtain agreement from the patient’s Integrated Care Board (ICB) confirming financial responsibility for the episode of care.
A formal contract or service-level arrangement must then be established between the patient’s local ICB and the Royal United Hospitals Bath, before the referral can proceed. Until funding and contractual arrangements are in place, the service is unable to accept or book the patient for assessment or intervention.
Referral Criteria
Before we are able to offer assessment and intervention in our service, children and young people being referred to us need to have had:
- Suspected fatigue for at least 3 months
- A range of screening blood tests to rule out other causes of fatigue. The results supplied must be within the last 12 months
- A completed referral proforma, which details all of the screening blood tests required, and the information we need. Please note: if the information supplied is incomplete, the referral will be rejected and this will delay the first appointment
For those eligible to access Paediatric services
In many areas, children and young people are able to access Paediatric services until the age of 18. In some areas, the ceiling age is 16.
We now require all young people who are eligible to access Paediatrics (up to the age of 16 or 18, depending on the geographical area) to be referred by a Consultant Paediatrician.
A referral to our service must have been preceded by a thorough assessment to rule out other causes of fatigue. We also require the referring consultant to remain involved for the duration of the young person’s course of appointments with us. We cannot accept referrals from Paediatricians working in private practice; all referrals must be made and supported by an NHS Consultant Paediatrician.
Note: We are no longer able to accept GP referrals for those under the age of 16.
Consultants wishing to make a referral should write, with a completed referral proforma, and submit via email to:
ruh-tr.paedscfsme@nhs.net
Or via post to:
Paediatric Specialist Fatigue Service,
Children's Centre, Department B11
Royal United Hospital Bath,
Combe Park,
Bath BA1 3NG
For those ineligible to access Paediatric services
In some areas, those 16-18 are ineligible to access Paediatric services. In these circumstances, we accept referrals from GPs. A referral to our service must have been preceded by a face-to-face assessment to rule out other causes of fatigue. We do not accept referrals from Advanced Nurse Practitioners or other Allied Health Professionals.
All referring GPs are requested to make a formal referral via NHS e-Referral Service:
- Select: Children and Adolescent Service
- Clinic type: Neurology
IMPORTANT NOTE: The young person's GP MUST submit the referral via NHS e-Referral Service (formerly Choose & Book).
If you have any queries prior to referring a child or young person, please contact a member of the team on 01225 821340 or via ruh-tr.paedscfsme@nhs.net