The Children's Occupational Therapy (OT) service is part of the Children's Integrated Therapies service. We are a specialist service who work with children and young people aged from birth to 18 years who are unable to complete the daily occupations they need to, want to or are required to do.
Daily life is made up of many occupations. Childhood occupations include:
- Self-care tasks such as feeding, dressing, bathing and brushing teeth.
- Productivity tasks such as handwriting, using scissors and using a ruler.
- Leisure activities such as riding a bike and enabling children and young people to be able to play with toys
We work with the child or young person and their family to identify meaningful goals. We complete a range of assessments to identify any barriers to a child’s occupational performance and use graded meaningful activities to maintain, develop and maximise their independence in their daily occupations.
Contact us
Monday - Friday, 8.30am - 5pm
South Tyneside: 0191 402 8067
Sunderland: 0191 569 9123
Finding us
South Tyneside
Palmer Community Hospital
Wear Street
Jarrow
NE32 3UX
Sunderland
Children’s Centre
Durham Road
Sunderland
SR3 4AD
Our team
Our team is made up of qualified OTs, OT assistants and admin support.
Children's Occupational Therapy Clinical Team Lead: Gina Sinclair-James
stsft.therapiesadmincoordinators@nhs.net
Getting referred
Children can be referred by a Healthcare professional, or by the child/young person's school SENCo. Referrals are accepted for children and young people living across South Tyneside and Sunderland, registered with a South Tyneside or Sunderland GP.
Local Authority OT services
For equipment loans, and minor and major home adaptations, referrals should be made to the Occupational Therapy teams based within South Tyneside Council and Sunderland City Council.
Advice Sheets
Washing and Dressing
- Dressing Skills
- Fastening Buttons
- Fastening Shoelaces
- Fastening Zips
- Teeth Brushing
- Hair Brushing
- Styling and Cutting
- Nail Cutting