Children’s Dietetic Service

Your initial assessment is usually around 45 minutes. After your initial session, if a follow up appointment is needed, this session is likely be shorter than 45 minutes. The frequency of your appointments will be agreed during the session.

We send out appointment letters and can send out reminder text messages. If you have been invited to a face-to-face appointment, the dietitian will greet you in the seated waiting area and introduce themselves to you and your family. The session will usually take place in a clinic room.

Telephone Appointments

If you have a telephone appointment, the dietitian will call you during the morning or afternoon clinic.  If we can’t get through the first time we will try again that day.

During the appointment the dietitian will discuss the circumstances leading to the appointment. They will gather all the relevant history required to help agree some goals for you and your family. Often the dietitian will ask you details of your eating and drinking. If you are in a face-to-face session, often weight and height measurements are taken with your permission. We can discuss these results through with you on the day using the relevant growth charts. We do liaise closely with other professionals where necessary.

Group Sessions

For group sessions, we offer options to suit your preference. Group sessions can be be online or in person. These sessions are usually around an hour. We require an email address to be able to send you the online link for virtual groups.

It is usually helpful if you can bring previous weight records if your child is under 5 years old, for example their Red Book. It may be useful to bring a food diary if this has been advised. It's also useful to know the names of other health professionals involved in your child's care. If your child is currently taking any medications it is helpful to bring this to appointments.

Please contact our main single point of contact team on 01482 478904 or email our team for any queries and our admin team will forward on any relevant messages to the dietitians.

We understand that some appointments do need to be cancelled for various reasons, such as if you or your child is poorly at the time. If you let us know at least 24 hours in advance that you are needing to cancel, we will try to book into the next available appointment for you. You can let us know via our phone number: 01482 478904.

If you simply do not attend an arranged appointment with us, we will have to mark that your child "was not brought to an appointment". You are then given a two-week grace period to rebook your appointment by contacting us on 01482 478904. If no further contact has been made, this will lead to your child being discharged from our service and your GP being notified of this.