Referral information for professionals

Referrals must be directed to the Care Co-ordination Centre using the ICPS Referral Form. The Care Co-ordination Centre is based in Ipswich and operates 24/7.

All referrals to ICPS must adhere to the following requirements:

• Referrals should be made on the ICPS Referral Form, and either sent electronically or by post to the Care Co-ordination Centre (details above)
• if it is an urgent referral requiring immediate response, this can be made by phone
• Parent/carers’ consent must always be obtained prior to referral
• Referrals are only accepted where the child is registered with a Suffolk GP (within the Suffolk Community Healthcare boundaries)
• Medical, audiology, children's community nursing, occupational therapy and physiotherapy referrals are accepted where the child is registered with a Thetford GP (excludes speech and language therapy)
• Referrals may be returned to the referrer if there is incomplete information, or the referral is inappropriate and does not meet referral criteria (see service specific referral guidance for more information)
• If the referral is accepted it will be prioritized according to need 
• Where referrals are accepted, our policies will be applied in terms of waiting times, and discharge relating to non-attendance

Referrals can be made:

By email

By post: Constantine House, 5 Constantine Road, Ipswich, IP1 2DH

By phone: 0300 123 2425

ICPS Referral Form

The ICPS Referral form offers options to refer into one or more of the following children's services:

• Medical service
• Audiology
• Community Children’s Nursing Services (CCN)
• Speech and Language Therapy
• Physiotherapy
• Occupational Therapy

Please note:

• Referrals for more than one service can be made on the same referral form
• Referrals are screened by senior clinicians and prioritisation/urgency criteria applied
• Speech and language referrals from mainstream schools should be made by completing this form. 

ICPS Referrals Guidance

Referrals guidance is available below for the following services:

• Medical service
• Audiology
• Community Children’s Nursing Services (CCN)
• Speech and Language Therapy
• Physiotherapy
• Occupational Therapy

ICPS Paediatric Speech and Language Therapy Quick Reference Guides

• School Referral Flow Chart
• Quick reference guide to Paediatric Speech and Language Therapy referrals for parents and carers
• Quick reference guide to Paediatric Speech and Language Therapy referrals for GPs and consultants
• Quick reference guide to Paediatric Speech and Language Therapy referrals for health visitors, health care professionals and early years staff

Additional services

The Child and Family Psychology Service, Suffolk Communication Aids Resource Centre (SCARC) and Therapy Focus Suffolk (TFS) are additional services provided within ICPS.  However they only receive internal referrals when a child/young person is already receiving care from one or more of the other services.  Internal referrals are accepted for these services according to the referrals guidance.