This is a plan of what to expect while your child is under the care of the North Thames Cleft Centre. It identifies the appointments, tests, assessments and operations your child will need. As each child is different, we may need to adjust this plan from time to time but the following is a rough guide for those children with clefts of the lip and palate.
| Your child's age | What to expect |
| Birth – 3 months | Regular contact with Clinical Nurse Specialist |
| Birth – 3 months | Outpatient appointment |
| 3 - 6 months | Admission to hospital for lip repair |
| 7 months | Hearing test (palate only) |
| 9 – 13 months | Admission to hospital for palate repair |
| 3 months after operation | Outpatient appointment - post op cleft clinic (and hearing test) |
| 12-18 months | ECIC (Early Communication in Cleft) Workshop for parents |
| 2 years | Outpatient appointment Speech and Language Therapy assessment |
| 3 years | Outpatient appointment Speech and Language Therapy assessment |
| 5 years | Outpatient appointment - Clinical review |
| 7.5 years | Outpatient appointment |
| 10 years | Outpatient appointment - Clinical review |
| 12.5 years | Outpatient appointment |
| 15 years | Outpatient appointment - Clinical review |
| 17.5 years | Outpatient appointment |
| 20 years | Outpatient appointment - Clinical review |
| 20 years | Outpatient appointment and appointment with Geneticist |
Children with clefts of the lip or palate only will need to be seen less frequently.
These are just the planned appointments and we are happy to see you at any time if you have concerns or worries. If individual members of the team need to see your child more regularly, we will arrange these appointments for you. If your child is likely to need several assessments at the same age, we will do our best to arrange them for the same day.
