Criteria for Referral

There is open access to the service, anyone with the consent of the child’s parent or carer can refer to the service. 

Other professionals may refer the child or young person to the service e.g. health visitors, nursery nurses, schools, learning disability nurses, children’s services, hospital staff, community paediatricians, GP’s.

The child or young person should:

  • live in a relevant locality area
  • be registered with a GP in a relevant locality area
  • be age 0 to18 years (up to 19 if in specialist education)
  • have a speech and language difficulty that is affecting their functional life skills or access to their environment.

Please refer to our detailed guidance document below for further information about when to refer.

Contact information

Central and West Lancashire

Telephone: 01772 215 065

Email: CTS.Central.West@lscft.nhs.uk

Pennine Lancashire

Telephone: 01282 628 428 or 01282 628 429

Email: CTS.Pennine@lscft.nhs.uk

What Happens Next?

Each request is reviewed by a therapist to consider if the service can help. If we can help, the request is accepted and the parent or carer is notified. The parent or carer will be contacted when an appointment becomes available. 

If we are unable to help, the person who made the referral will be informed of this by letter.

There is advice and information on how to support children and young people at different ages and stages in the other sections of this website.

Referrer training

This training is for professionals within Lancashire and South Cumbria who would like to refer a child to speech and language therapy.