INITIAL ASSESSMENT AND FOLLOW UP
INITIAL ASSESSMENT
At your child’s initial physiotherapy session, your physiotherapist will begin by taking the time to get to know both your child and your family. This includes gathering a detailed history and learning about your child’s unique personality—their likes and dislikes, how they communicate, what motivates them, and where they may need support. As a parent or guardian, you’ll also be asked a series of questions about your child’s social circumstances, medical history, birth history, and general health. If available, we may request copies of relevant medical documents or educational reports to help us build a complete picture.
Once a thorough history has been taken, the physiotherapist will carry out a physical assessment. This usually starts with observing your child’s natural movement. Depending on their age, this may involve play-based activities to encourage specific movements or gross motor skills in a relaxed and engaging way. When your child feels at ease, the physiotherapist will gently move into the hands-on part of the assessment, looking at things like range of movement, muscle strength, tone, and functional abilities. Where appropriate, additional tests may also be used to support clinical findings and guide the most effective approach to care.
EXERCISES
At the end of your initial assessment, your Physiotherapist will provide you with an exercise programme to complete at home/school/nursery. Here at RVCP we use an exercise app called Physitrack to create and distribute our exercise programmes. This innovative system allows the child or parent to input the number of reps and sets that your child has managed to complete via their phone or tablet, which allows us to monitor your child's rehab progress remotely. We can also create photo exercise programmes for children who require specific handling techniques within specific exercises.
We regularly liaise with schools, nurseries and sports training facilities to send copies of these programmes to a child's keyworker, SSA or coach in order for them to gain their full rehab potential with the support of a wider team; if there are any members of staff who require exercise training in order to best facilitate your child's progression, this is also something we can offer.
FOLLOW UP
During your initial assessment, your Physiotherapist will discuss your child's needs and advise how much Physio input they would benefit from - this is not a one size fits all! Some children prefer to complete their Physiotherapy at home with their siblings, parents or carers, and some children prefer to be seen by their Physiotherapist more regularly as it can provide them with more personal accountability. In addition, if as a parent you would prefer your Physiotherapist takes care of your child's exercises in order to free up time for you to do more things as a family, this can also be accommodated.
TOY AND EQUIPMENT RECOMMENDATIONS
Our Physiotherapists are very experienced with therapy equipment, and can make equipment recommendations if they feel a particular piece of kit would be appropriate and beneficial for your child. Our Physiotherapists can also arrange appointments with equipment reps if equipment is being purchased privately, or liaise with NHS Physio's and OT's to discuss whether it's possible to source a piece of equipment through them in order to keep costs down for parents (where it is felt to be appropriate). We also very often recommend certain toys which we feel would compliment a child's programme and help progress their gross motor milestones.
MULTI-DISCIPLINARY TEAM WORKING
Here at RVCP, our Physiotherapists know how important multi-disciplinary team working is to ensure the best outcomes for your child. If your child is already working with a team of professionals, with your consent, your Physio will ask for their details in order to communicate with them. As there is very often a substantial amount of clinical crossover between certain specialities, this enables our therapists to help streamline your child's care and create collaborative goals with other professionals, ensuring we access your child's full rehab potential.
REPORTS
Your Physiotherapist will be able to provide progress reports where appropriate, and can send reports to other professionals in order to ensure continuity of care throughout their Physiotherapy treatment. Our Physiotherapists are also experienced at writing supporting documents for Educational Health Care Plans (EHCPs) and annual reviews; it should be noted that private healthcare professionals can submit their own draft reports at a parent's request, however goals will need to be agreed by NHS services and the local authority to be included in the final plan. As a parent, you will be informed of/included in any correspondence between RVCP and other healthcare professionals.
REFERRALS
Your Physiotherapist can refer your child to other medical professionals (both private or NHS) if they feel further investigation or additional input is required. This can include (but is not exclusive to) Paediatrics, Orthopaedics, Rheumatology, GP, Orthotics and Occupational Therapy.
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