Kent frenulotomy (tongue-tie) referral form

Frenulotomy procedures in Kent are undertaken by East Kent Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (EKUFT) and Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Foundation Trust (MTW).

This referral form can be used to refer babies with a suspected tongue-tie to the Kent Tongue-Tie Co-ordination Service. A tongue tie is defined by the degree of restriction of the lingual function, rather than the appearance of the lingual frenulum.

This referral form should only be completed by a health professional (lactation consultant, infant feeding advisor or breastfeeding counsellor) who has received adequate training in assessing oral function or is confident in doing so. We are unable to accept referrals from health professionals who have not received additional training. Parents or carers are unable to refer themselves to the service directly.

Please refer to the Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust’s Specialist Infant Feeding Service if an oral assessment has not been completed or the health professional does not have the necessary training to diagnose a tongue-tie. Professionals can refer to a “tongue restriction” or “impairment of tongue function”, and can use assessment tools to reinforce their finding.

Visit the Specialist Infant Feeding Service for more information on support available. Once the team receive a referral, they will arrange for an initial assessment to be completed within 10 working days.

You can download a PDF copy of the form when you submit the referral. It is your responsibility to make sure copies of completed referral forms are held confidentially and securely in line with data protection legislation and your organisation’s policies. You will receive an email to confirm the referral has been received immediately although this may go to a junk folder so please check if you haven’t received.

We work hard to make sure client information is safe. Some email accounts belonging to practitioners working outside of the NHS may not be encrypted. We will therefore send information by a secure method called Egress, you will need to register for an account in order to open any correspondence we send you that contains sensitive or identifiable information. You will be asked to register an Egress account so you can read and respond to emails securely, if we send an email regarding a referral.

You can read our privacy policy for more information of how personal information is stored. This link can be shared with parent or carers on referral. You can find details of EKUFT and MTW policies on their websites if required.

You can phone the Specialist Infant Feeding Team on 0300 7906861 if you have any issues.