Children's Disability Service - Belfast Trust

The Children’s Disability Service works to provide services for children with disability and additional needs. We actively communicate and work with parents, involving and empowering them to cope with the demands of raising a disabled child, and provide a means for families to access a range of information, assessments and services.

This service is for any child aged 0 –19 living in Belfast who has a diagnosis of :

• Severe Learning Disability
• Physical Health Issue
• Physical Disability
• Hearing difficulty
• Visual difficulty which can not be correct by glasses

A range of teams provide this service including:

Community Teams, which include social workers and learning disability nurses, provide specialist advice and support and can help parents access a range of statutory, voluntary and community services.

As a parent you can contact the Community teams directly at the Roe Centre or through the central number (028) 9504 2725. Alternatively, your GP, a family member or an advocate may contact us on your behalf.

Social Work Teams are based at both the Royal Jubilee Maternity Service and the Children’s Hospital. They work as an integral part of the hospital team providing advice and support in hospital and referral to community services.

Referrals to the hospital based social work teams are made directly in the hospital. You can ask any member of the medical or nursing team caring for your child to contact the social work team

Residential Care – Somerton Road (028) 9504 2880 and Willow Lodge (028) 9504 3010 provide long term placements for children with a learning disability who present challenging behaviour. Forest Lodge provides respite care for children who have a severe learning disability and may also have complex physical needs.

Children’s Interdisciplinary Schools Team Children’s Interdisciplinary Schools Team provides a service in schools to children who are having difficulty accessing the curriculum.

Referrals to the Children’s Interdisciplinary Schools Team are made directly from schools to the Team Manager at the Everton Complex .

If you have a question about the services this team provides, telephone (028) 9504 2726 or (028) 9051 0523.