Nutrition and dietetics

Wherever possible, the work of our team will continue as normal.

We are now seeing children in their own homes using the appropriate PPE to keep the visit safe. 

We may offer some appointments over the phone or by video consultation where this is deemed appropriate and to support the effective review process for the child. A member of the team will contact you to decide on the right arrangements for you. There is no need to contact us.

Review clinics at the special schools are usually returning to normal this term, so will be face to face appointments but may vary according to local school policy. You will be advised when your appointment is confirmed whether to attend or whether it will be virtual.

Home deliveries of enteral feeds are continuing as normal. 

Contact

If you have any queries or concerns you can contact us on 0118 2070932. Calls are answered between 9am–1pm Monday to Friday. If you are unable to speak to someone, please leave a message and we will aim to respond the next working day. If you have urgent clinical queries, you may also like to call your Community Children’s Nurse, who may be able to help with interim advice.

Our CYPIT Specialist Dietetics team works with children and families with complex health and developmental needs.

We work across Berkshire in partnership with Community Children’s Nursing teams to provide dietetic support to all children receiving enteral feeding (non-oral) as a method to support a good nutritional intake and adequate growth.

We work in special schools to support pupils who have a range of issues affecting their eating and drinking, and their families, carers and school staff.

We also work collaboratively with other therapy services, such as Specialist Eating and Drinking Speech and Language Therapists and Occupational Therapists.

Examples of the children our service covers are:

• All children fed enterally or jejunally (tube fed) either for all or some of their nutritional intake
• Children who attend special schools and who have eating and drinking issues, such as faltering growth and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) related eating issues
• Children who are making very selective food choices that may be affecting their nutritional status

Locations

Our CYPIT Specialist Dietetics teams are based at:

• Upton Hospital, Fir Tree House for East Berkshire ( Slough, South Bucks, Maidenhead, Windsor, Ascot and Bracknell) children
• London Road Campus, University of Reading for West Berkshire, Reading and Wokingham children

Appointments

Appointments are offered at relevant special schools or at your child’s home, nursery or respite care setting. When you have an appointment with the specialist dietician, your child’s nutritional intake will be assessed, along with other issues affecting it. We’ll work with you to develop a dietetic plan. This appointment might be with just the dietician,  jointly with other relevant CYPIT staff, or your paediatric consultant or community children’s nurse.

Our Community Nutrition and Dietetic Services team provides outpatient clinic support for children and their families/carers, who need support and advice with their nutritional intake to promote good growth and/or help manage a clinical diagnosis.

Examples of areas our team covers are:

• Fussy eating and food refusal
• Faltering growth related to poor intake
• Allergy advice

Locations

We cover Berkshire and work as two locality based teams to cover the East and West Berkshire areas.

Our teams are based in several locations across the localities, but the central point of contact for the service is based at West Berkshire Community Hospital.

Appointments

When you come for an appointment, you’ll be seen by the dietitian who’ll assess your child’s nutritional intake and review the issues affecting it. You’ll be given advice and an agreed plan to help manage these issues. This appointment will usually be with a dietitian alone and will happen in a variety of settings across the county.

CYPIT Specialist Dietetics

If you’re transferring a child into our area who is already receiving enteral nutrition, please contact the relevant dietetic team below:

Berkshire East: 01753 635073

Berkshire West: 0300 3654000

Community Nutrition and Dietetic Services

If you need to speak to someone from the Community Nutrition and Dietetic service please contact:

Berkshire East Community Dietetics: 01753 636724

Berkshire West Community Dietetics: 01635 273710

New referrals 

All new referrals to either service should be made by a relevant healthcare professional. Please see the referrals page for more information as the referrals process is different for the services.