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About this service
In the Child Health department, we look after babies, children, and young people with a huge range of conditions and illnesses. This may be children with a long-term condition such as asthma, diabetes and epilepsy, or who have had an accident or need emergency care. We also support children and young people in the community who have a significant disability or vulnerability.
We look after children from as soon as they are born, in our neonatal unit, right through to adolescence, when we help them transition to our adult services if they still need care and treatment.
Caring for children in an emergency or for an operation
Our acute care service looks after children and young people coming in for an operation or who have been admitted as an emergency.
We know waking up in hospital can be scary, so we have a number of dedicated children’s wards (Fistral and Clic, Harlyn, Polkerris, and Paediatric HDU) specially set up to look after children and make their stay more comfortable. To find out more about staying at the Royal Cornwall Hospital overnight, please visit our Inpatients section, which includes information on what to bring and what to expect.
Neurodevelopmental Service
The Neurodevelopmental team works with children who are not reaching the expected developmental milestones for their age. Typically, this means their progress in areas such as language, mobility; self-care and independent living may be non-typical.
We provide assessment, diagnosis and ongoing coordination of care, alongside our professional colleagues in education and social care. Our service is personalised for each child.
Children in Care Health Team
The Children in Care (CIC) health team works to improve the health and wellbeing of children in Cornwall who are in local authority care or who are placed outside of Cornwall by Cornwall Council.
Safeguarding Medical Service
The Child Community Health team provides medical support for the safeguarding of vulnerable children and young people. Our community paediatricians work closely alongside social care services and the police to provide timely medical advice, assessment and opinion to help protect the health, wellbeing and safety of children and young people.
Children’s Community Therapy Service
The Royal Cornwall Hospitals Children’s Community Therapy Service (CCTS) provides an integrated therapy service for children who have physical or sensory difficulties, developmental delay, under-nutrition or excessive weight gain.
The team includes Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists, Dietitians, Support Staff and Administrative Staff.
The team members work in different venues across Cornwall including Early Years Settings, Special Schools, Primary and Secondary Schools, Family Hubs, Hospitals and Home Settings.
The service is accessed through a referral from a health or education professional if the service specific referral criteria are met.
The team supports Children and Young People (C&YP) 0 -18 (or 19 if YP is in Special School) to enable them to gain independence through assessment, intervention and review.
If required therapy plans are developed and agreed with the CYP, parents, carers and settings staff.
Occupational Therapy
Assessment, support, and advice with daily activities including developing independence with eating, dressing and personal care, hand skills, co-ordination, sensory strategies, positioning, seating, and child development.
Physiotherapy
Assessment and support with movement skills, balance, exercises, stretching, hydrotherapy, and walking development.
Nutrition and Dietetics
Neurodisability Service, provide individual advice and support to children with neurodevelopmental disorders to address poor growth, nutritional deficiencies, special diets, selective eating, and other diet related issues.
Weight Management
Our weight management team work with children and young people who are significantly overweight. The team offer a multi-disciplinary Lifestyles, Eating & Activity for Families (LEAF) Programme for children aged 0 to 6 and a Complications of Excess Weight (CEW) Programme for children aged 7 to 18.
We also provide support and training for professionals working with children and families around weight management and lifestyle advice.
Steps to Eating Programme
Steps to Eating Programme (STEP) offer free training to support staff working with families whose children have selective eating. The programme has a structured approach for working with children with selective eating in a variety of settings.
It helps address restricted eating that has continued beyond the normal toddler fussy stage, a problem commonly seen by early years practitioners.
Contact information
CCTS
LEAF
- Email: rcht.leaf.programme@nhs.net
CEW
- Email: plh-tr.cewservice@nhs.net
Neurodevelopmental Service
Children in Care Health Team
- Telephone: 01872 254590
- Email: rch-tr.Cornwallchildrenincarehealthteam@nhs.net
Safeguarding Medical Service
- Telephone: 01872 255748
Where to find us
We have a number of dedicated children’s wards. Please visit their respective pages to find directions to them:
Patient Information (Leaflets)
Professional careers in paediatrics
There are multiple ways to find out about careers in this area:
- Find out more about careers in paediatrics on the healthcareers website
- See the Trust’s current vacancies on our careers website.
Page last reviewed: 17 October 2023
