A groundbreaking new service which offers support and specialist therapeutic care for children with complex needs is to be rolled out across Suffolk.

Called Therapy Focus Suffolk, the Suffolk Community Healthcare (SCH) initiative has now won permanent funding following a successful pilot last year. The service provides specific help to selected children with complex cerebral palsy, offering families one week of intensive, daily 90-minute sessions with physiotherapists, occupational therapists and speech and language therapists.

As part of the programme, each child will be holistically assessed before a unique therapy plan is developed to respond to their individual needs. The therapy sessions will be held at a variety of locations across the county, including schools and child development centres, to make them easier for people to access.

The project is also designed to bring care closer to home, as previously families would have needed to travel to London for such specialist treatment.

“Last year’s pilot was the first time that such intensive care was made available locally, and it was extremely well received by those families who used the service,” said Christine Hawley, project lead with Suffolk Community Healthcare.

“Although most children’s therapy needs are already well catered for, Therapy Focus Suffolk gives us the opportunity to offer highly specialised therapies to resolve more complex cases. The sessions will be provided in a protected and non-pressured environment, which will help the children to develop while overcoming some of the problems they may have.

“Through the project, we have also been able to give our staff additional training in the highly specialised treatment of cerebral palsy which has, in turn, brought benefits to all of their patients, and not just those referred through Therapy Focus Suffolk.

“Last year’s pilot has already shown that this type of therapy can make a real difference to the lives of these families, so we’re delighted that the initiative has now won permanent funding from NHS Suffolk to allow it to continue.

The service can cater for three families a week and is limited to 12 families a year. It will be made available to children who have been receiving therapy for at least a year but have not shown the expected levels of achievement.“

For more information visit www.suffolk.nhs.uk