Health Visitior Team
The team includes a range of knowledge, skills and professional fields including nursing and social care:
- Administrative support staff
- Health visitors
- Public health nurses
- Child health promotion advisors
- Strengthening family nurses
Our team of dedicated health visitors are specialists in child health and development and will provide a range of information, support and advice to you and your family to help you give your children the best possible start in life.
Support includes:
- Antenatal visits
- New birth visit – advice and support in caring for a new baby (10-14 days old)
- Contact at 4-8 weeks, 9-12 months and 2-2 ½ years – including physical and developmental reviews at 9-12 months and 2-2½ years
- Support for specific issues such as postnatal depression
- One-to-one breastfeeding support
- Feeding, weaning and dental health advice
- Support and advice on family health and minor illnesses
- Emotional and mental wellbeing support
- Child safety advice
- Sleep or behaviour concerns
- Parenting support
- Information about other services and community groups (eg Children’s Centres, breastfeeding support groups)
- Referrals into specialist services eg Speech and Language Therapy, Bladder and Bowel Service
School Nurse Team
The team includes a range of knowledge, skills and professional fields social care and are linked with schools across the localities:
Our team of passionate School Nurses provides support for a seamless transition from health visitors to school nurses. Their vision is to enable local children, young people and families to access services quickly in order to be secure, healthy, have fun and achieve their full potential.
The team supports children and young people aged 5 – 19 in primary and secondary schools and home educated children, as well as their families and carers.
Support includes:
- school entry health and well-being checks – reception and year 7
- vision and hearing screenings for all reception aged children
- height and weight monitoring in reception and year 6 (National Child Measurement Programme)
- health promotion and education
- advice and support
- immunisations programme
- sign posting and referrals into other services
- safeguarding support
- promoting the welfare of children and young people
- weekly drop-ins in secondary schools
- training to staff and parents on how to manage specific health needs in school
- drop in advice sessions both for parents and young people, including our Health Service in Schools sessions delivered in most secondary schools
- support, advice and guidance to other professionals and parents on a variety of topics to do with health and wellbeing
Specialist School Nurses
Our Specialist School Nurses support children and young people aged 5 – 19 in primary and secondary schools and home educated children, as well as their families and carers.
Support is also provided to schools and alternative education providers – every school has a named school nurse.
Our team works in partnership with schools and other professionals to keep children healthy, happy and safe. They promote health and wellbeing, as well as offering the childhood immunisation and vaccination programme.
Infant Feeding Specialists
Our dedicated infant feeding team provides information, support and training to healthcare professionals to ensure a high standard of care for pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers and babies.
Support includes:
- local breastfeeding groups
- one-to-one
- telephone helpline
- Facebook groups
Family Nurses (Family Nurse Partnership)
Our Family Nurses support first time pregnant mums aged 24 and under with specific vulnerabilities and needs.
They provide intensive support for first-time young mums, their partners (if agreed to by the young mum), and their babies up until their first child reaches 2 years of age. Each family has a dedicated family nurse for the length of the programme, which enables a strong relationship to develop during the early parenting journey.
Enhancing Families Programme (EFP)
Specialist nurses support vulnerable families along the parenting journey from pregnancy until their child turns 2 years old.
The team supports:
- Mums-to-be to have a healthy pregnancy
- Baby and child health and development
- Positive parenting and attachment
- Parents with their future plans and aspirations
