Children's physiotherapy service

Children’s Physiotherapy Service helps children improve movement, strength, and physical development through tailored therapy and support for families.

We help children and young people with physical difficulties do the things that they want and need to be able to do.  We will support children and young people to achieve their goals so they can join in everyday functional activities such as accessing their environments and enjoying hobbies or activities.  We take into consideration the Person, their Environment and their level of function which all impact on each other.

Does your child need a Physiotherapy Assessment? They:

  • are 0 to 18 years old (or 19 if still in full time education)
  • have a GP in Cumbria
  • are having difficulty participating in functional tasks that they want and need to do due to a physical difficulty, illness or injury

Have a look at the advice sheets below and try the relevant suggestions. We ask you to try these first before contacting the service or while you are waiting for your child or young person to be seen as you may identify actions you can take straight away to help. If the young person is still having difficulties then please use our referral form [WORD 567KB].

If you are not sure and would like to discuss this further then please contact your local therapy team [PDF 129KB].

Early development

Physical activity

Footwear

Posture

Physiotherapy in schools

Referral

The referral should be made by the person who knows the child/young person the best and be clear in what it is that they are having difficulty with. This is often a parent or teacher but could also be another health or social care professional or the young person themselves.

We are not able to accept referrals requesting specific assessments where there is no indication of any physical difficulty taking part in functional tasks.

How the service works

The Children's Physiotherapists, Occupational therapists and Speech and Language Therapists are all part of one countywide integrated therapy team, managed in 3 county locations; the East, West and South. We are an NHS service but have an approach allowing us to be holistic by taking into consideration the child’s health, education and social care needs in the most appropriate environment for the child.

We offer a tiered service that means we can offer the right support for you and your child at the right time. This might include:

  • helping you find and use advice online
  • supporting you to adapt activities to help your child take part
  • advising school or nursery staff to support your child
  • seeing your child for a block of group or 1:1 sessions
  • advising on specialised equipment to help them take part in activities at school or home

We will work together to set child centred goals so that they are more able to participate in activities of their choosing. Once your child’s goals have been achieved, they will be discharged from the Physiotherapy Service but can be easily re-referred if their needs or goals change in the future. If you would like to make a new or re-referral please use our referral form [WORD 567KB].

If you are not sure and would like to discuss this further then please contact your local therapy team [PDF 129KB].