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Children’s feeding clinic

Find out about the children and young people's feeding clinic at South Tees Hospitals.

Who we are?

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The clinic is run by a team of professionals working together to assess and treat each child. At the initial appointment you will see all the professionals together. The team is made up of:

  • Paediatrician
  • Speech and language therapist
  • Dietician

We also work closely with colleagues in other disciplines both in the hospital and in community including:

  • Children’s community nursing team
  • Paediatric surgeons
  • Paediatric ENT (ear, nose and throat) surgeons
  • Community paediatricians and neurodisability specialists

We are based at The James Cook University Hospital. We offer an initial clinic appointment at the children and young people’s outpatient department.

After this professionals from the team may visit you at home to assess feeding in a natural environment. The initial appointment will be 30 to 45 minutes long.

What we do ?

The feeding clinic brings together a range of specialist health professionals to support families with babies and children with feeding difficulties.

The feeding clinic is a clinic for children with one or more of the following problems:

  • Poor growth or weight gain
  • Persisting symptoms such as vomiting and reflux
  • Difficulties taking adequate food by mouth
  • Difficulties eating a range of foods

Having a baby or child with feeding difficulties can be frustrating and challenging and the clinic aims to take a holistic and family-centred view of complex feeding problems.

Often parents and carers find it useful to be able to discuss their child’s feeding with a multi-specialist team to ensure clear communication and agreement on their child’s feeding.

Preparing for the clinic

We will ask you to complete a pre-clinic questionnaire including:

  • Your child’s current feeding habits
  • The current feeding plan you are giving if your child is having additional tube feeds or supplements
  • Your concerns and expectations from the clinic
  • A list of medications your child is taking
  • A list of the other professionals involved in your child’s care.
  • Information for professionals

Referrals

This service is available for patients who live in the Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland area only. We do not accept referrals directly from general practitioners.

We accept referrals from consultant paediatricians, dieticians and dysphagia specialist speech and language therapists based at South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

Please make referrals using the forms on webice.