Maria O'Malley

My name is Maria O'Malley.  I am the OT Clinical Lead.   Newham is a borough I know well, living here and going to school here and deciding to stay here to invest in my career as an Occupational Therapist for over 20 years.  I am privileged to work with some amazing families whose lives at times are challenging, yet they continue to be the best advocates they can be for their children.

I remain committed to building this team of amazing occupational therapists from all over the world to ensure we deliver the best OT Service we can for the children and young people in Newham.  

Mairead Fergus

Hi my name is Mairead. I am an OT from Ireland and I have worked in Newham for 9 years. I have a special interest and motivation to work with children with Autism. I have completed Sensory Integration training to level 3 and I am trained in the SOS (sensory oral and sequential) approach to feeding. I love working with the colleagues on my team as well as physiotherapists and speech and language therapist and the beautiful children and families we meet in Newham.

Melissa Homer  

I am a Band 7 OT and have worked in Newham for 7 years.  I love working with all the children and families  and each and every child teaches me something new everyday, it is a real  privilege to serve Newham and its community. I am passionate about play as an Occupation and supporting children to fill their potential.

Tin Oi Lui

I've found great fulfilment working with children, establishing strong partnerships with families and schools in Newham for the past few years, known for its cultural diversity and resilience in supporting children with various complex conditions. I am truly proud to be a member of one of London's largest children's OT teams, we're passionate about making positive changes in the services we offer to families and schools, driven by our enthusiasm and dedication.

Angel (Mei Po) Shum

I am a new occupational therapist in the team. I came to London all the way from Hong Kong in 2017 to study something that I love - occupational therapy. I have been working as an OT in Newham in a different setting for the last 2 years. I am very excited and looking forward to working with different amazing children and families. I am grateful for all the learning opportunities that I got in this passionate and experienced team.

Who Can Refer  

Referrals are accepted from education, health and social care professionals and parents/carers and must provide sufficient information to meet the referral criteria.  

How to Refer 

Education Referrals:

Before a new referral can be made, school staff must first discuss any functional concerns with a member of their School’s OT Hub. To speak with a member of your School’s OT Hub please call our OT Hub Contact Line where a member of our team will provide relevant support, advice and resources and if appropriate, will help you to complete a new referral.  

The OT Hub Contact Line (0208586 6266) is open each week (during term time only) as follows:  

Tuesday 8:30am - 10:30am 

Thursday 3.00pm - 5:00pm 

Health and Social Care referrals and Parents/Carer referrals:

Click here for information on how to refer to our service. 

Inclusion Criteria:

• Aged 0 –18 years
• Is registered with a Newham GP.
• The child/Young Person is experiencing significant functional difficulties, across a range of areas which limit their participation and engagement in everyday tasks in line with their cognitive age that would benefit from Occupational Therapy advice and input (ie: self-care, getting dressed, school activities, play activities).

Exclusion Criteria:

• Handwriting: Referrals made from schools for children with difficulties only with handwriting/scissor skills will be advised to access the MDT Education Resource Pack to provide support and ideas in these areas.
• Toileting: For children who are under 3 years, referrals will be signposted to their specialist heath visitor and the Health Visiting Team Service, and or children’s centres where they can access general advice in this area all of which can be found on the London Borough of Newham Local Offer (Please follow this link to view the London Borough of Newham Local Offer).
• Sensory Preferences: Sensory preferences that are not impacting the child’s ability to carry out daily tasks (e.g. does not like loud noises but is able to cope in environments with minimal help) and repetitive and stereotypical behaviours (e.g. hand flapping, spinning, etc.)
• Behavioural feeding in isolation: We currently are not commissioned to provide a service for children with isolated sensory, aversive and/or behavioural feeding difficulties.  For basic tips and pointers look out for our Fun with Food Video Series within our Resources section, which can help to give you some basic pointers that are simple and easy to try. {NOTE: We are working with our commissioners and SLT partners to get a service back up and running again by the end of the year]   
• Emotional Behavioural Management: If the referral is from school, the school will be signposted to the Behavioural Support Services.  If the child has autism, advice can be sought from the Language Communication & Interaction Service (LCIS) who have specialist advisory teachers who specialise in autism. For families who require support around setting boundaries in the home families should contact/sign up for the Triple P Parenting Programme. Triple P is a parenting programme.  It's a toolbox of ideas specifically for families.

We see children and young people in different ways, depending on need, age, service provision.  

If your referral meets the service criteria and is accepted, your child will be placed on our waiting list (parents and referrer will receive an acknowledgement letter that the referral has been accepted).    

How we will contact you: 

Our Pathway Care Coordinator will send you a letter outlining your appointment with us. The appointment's name, place, time, and the name of the OT you will be seeing are all specified in the letter.

We have a number of settings where you may be seen so make sure you check the location. Your child may be seen at West Ham Lane Health Centre, Appleby Health Centre or Joyce Campbell Clinic. There may be times where it is more appropriate that we see your child at school or at nursery. 

In some cases you may be attending one of our parent coaching sessions, in which your first appointment will be alongside other parents. 

What if I need an Interpreter? 

It is usually already on our system if you require an interpreter and this will be provided for you. If at the first appointment you feel an interpreter is no longer required, please let your OT know and they can cancel the interpreter.   

Please let your OT know if you are also not comfortable with the interpreter as it may be possible to change this. 

What should my child wear to their OT appointments?

We ask that children come to the sessions appropriately dressed in comfortable clothing. Many of our sessions will involve movement and/or messy play. 

What will the OT do during the appointment? 

We understand that we don't know you or your child, so the goal of the first session will be to get to know you both. The OT will observe your child playing and observe what activities prefer doing.

Your child will play alongside the OT as a role model for specific play activities.

The OT is evaluating your child as they go about their daily lives. They may ask your child to draw, cut, jump, hop, tie their shoes, as well as other activities to help them identify what they can do well and what they need a little more assistance with.

For older children, we aim to include them as much as we can during the appointments. We like to hear from them to find out how they are managing at home and at school and what help they might need.

What will happen next? 

After your initial appointment, the OT will have gathered more information about how your child is managing with everyday tasks. They will also have found out what the priorities are from either you as the parent/caregiver or the young person themselves. These goals will help shape any future appointments that may be offered. If appropriate, the OT may contact your child's school to discuss how things are going and if they have any concerns.   

There are some occasions when, after meeting you and your child, that everything is going well and you feel that OT at this time is not necessary, this can be discussed with your therapist so that a plan for the future can be put in place.  

Once my child's case is closed, does that mean I will not be able to be seen again?  

Re-referrals are considered mainly for new areas of concerns. For continued difficulties in the same areas, families and schools are advised, in the first instance, to refer to the last OT report and recommendations that were provided. Families/schools need to be able to demonstrate they have worked on the previous advice and recommendations given before a new referral can be considered.

Our Vision is to be able to empower children, young people and families to be able to engage more purposefully in everyday tasks, at home, in school and in our local community.

Our Aim is to listen to our families, children and young people so that we are able and equipped to work in a holistic, child centred way.

Our Commitment to Diversity and Equality: We aim to have a service that is transparent for all our children, young people and families. A service that is rich in cultural diversity within our team, as well as a service that will strive to ensure that all children, young people and families of all backgrounds, faiths and abilities are supported to participate fully in their activities of daily living, and thrive in their local communities.

Schools Have Told Us.....

Some students are not able to manage their periods independently in school and at home - We have updated our resources and some useful and practical tips are now ready on the Education Pack.  We are also trialing some groups in some of our secondary schools on supporting young girls with managing their periods (September 2024).

We have had poor attendance at some of our training over the last year, and schools have told us that our training programme is too rigid and doesn't allow flexibility of attendance - We have introduced a new 'OT Starter Pack' for New members of staff, and have now pre-recorded a number of training that will be available for the new school year (Setptember 2024) 

Schools would like some more resources for older children - We are working hard to develop our pack for our young people and hope to have this ready by the new school year (September 2024). 

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Parents have told Us......

We would like more early intervention around parent support for our children with autism - After successful trial of our Parent Early Years Workshops -  we are delighted to be offering these to all children of pre-school age who have social communication difficulties and who have attended Speech and Language Jet Set sessions.  We are working hard to have this section of the website up and running by September 2024. 

They need more information regarding a child's sensory needs in a way that is easy to understand - We have now launched our 'Sensory Zone Page' on the website which we have built with some parents.  Here we have amazing videos as well as practical things to try everyday. 

They find it hard taking their children to access places of religious worship - We now have launched our 'Faith in Newham' page on the website where you will find videos, social stories and useful information. 

Compliments or Complaints

We are committed to improve our user experience and really would like to hear from you if you have any comments on suggestions you would like to share with us. 

If you would like to provide feedback in relation to your experience with our service, or an individual Occupational Therapist, you can do so by completing this short survey

If you would like to make a complaint about the service, you can contact the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS):

Email: elft.palsandcomplaints@nhs.net:

Phone: 0800 0131 223

How Many Appointments will my child receive? 

The number of appointments that you will receive, will depend on how we are seeing your child.   

In the majority of cases (excluding upper limb splinting and postural seating), we work in episodes of care. This means that children who meet our service criteria (see above), and who are seen on our individual pathway, will be offered individual therapy sessions (a maximum of 4 sessions will be offered).  Therapy sessions can take place in either one of our clinics, nursery/school or at home.  For some pathways it may be more appropriate to offer a Coaching Style model of intervention, working more closely with parents and caregivers. 

For children of pre-school age, and who have social communication difficulties, we now offer our new amazing parent coaching sessions (5 sessions).  

Following your OT intervention, the episode of care will be closed and advice/strategies will be provided for the family/carers and school to follow and embed in their everyday tasks to ensure that progress is made.

Advice and Therapy: We have a range of ways that we offer advice and therapy input – this could include any of the following: 

• Workshops
• Problem solving sessions
• Individual therapy sessions
• Group therapy sessions
• Parent groups
• Extensive video resource library as well as resources for your child’s school

How long do I have to wait for my child to be seen?   

We are currently working very hard to reduce waiting times.  Our current waiting times for individual intervention is in excess of 20 weeks.

What happens if I cannot attend one of my appointments? 

We appreciate there will be times when families are unable to attend due to sickness, other appointments or family circumstances. Where possible we ask for families to call the office, giving 24 hrs notice to cancel or change an appointment, this is so that we can offer that slot to another family waiting to be seen. 

My child needs equipment or adaptations at home

Some children will need to have equipment (e.g, bath equipment) or adaptations (e.g. a ramp or hoist) fitted in their home to help them complete their everyday activities. For an assessment of your home environment, you will need to contact Social Services Occupational Therapy Team.

Their address is:
Newham Dockside
1000 Dockside Road
London
E16 2QU

They can be contacted by telephone on: 020 8430 2000 (Please Select Option 2)
You can visit their website or you can request an assessment using their online form
Or you can e-mail them ascot-dutysenior@newham.gov.uk 

I have a problem with my child's Wheelchair & Buggy, who do I contact?

For all queries relating to wheelchairs and buggies you will need to contact our partners at Enabled Living Wheelchair & Specialist Seating.

200 Chargeable Lane
Plaistow
London
E13 8DW

They can be contacted by telephone on: 020 3373 1354

You can email them at: info@enabledlivinghealthcare.co.uk 

You can visit their website 

Investing in the Future

As a service we believe in investing in future generations of Occupational Therapists.

We are excited to be working closely with the University of East London providing student placement opportunities. 

We are proud to be one of the few Paediatric Occupational Therapy services that have developed a unique Band 5 learning programme to newly qualified occupational therapists.