Agenda item

Anna Clack, Public Health, gave the following powerpoint presentation:-

 

Healthy Child Programme 5-19

Core ambition to have children and young people who were happier, healthier and ready to take advantage of positive opportunities and reach their full potential

-          Framework for universal and progressive services for prevention and early intervention

-          Key role was to identify children with high risk and low protective factors

-          Partnership working to develop high quality services

-          Effective use of resources informed by a local needs assessment

-          Delivered to local population regardless of school status – Academies, educated at home

-          Evidence based programmes

 

National Guidance

-          Working Together to Safeguard Children

-          National Child Measurement Programme 2012/13

-          You’re Welcome

-          Healthy Child Programme

 

Getting it right for Children and Families – an opportunity to

-          Revitalise the profession

-          Review and revise local services

-          Reaffirm School Nurses as leaders and key deliverers on Public Health

-          Develop a framework for local service delivery

-          Involve children and young people in Service development

-          Provide a Service that is ‘in synch with the way young people live their lives’

-          Four levels of activity/intervention with safeguarding running through all

 

Outcome Measures for Children, Young people and Families

-          Improved emotional wellbeing of looked after children

-          Reduced school absences

-          Reduced excess weight

-          Reduced under 18 conceptions

-          Reduced chlamydia prevalence in 15-24 year olds

-          Reduced smoking prevalence

-          Reduced alcohol and drug misuse

-          Reduced tooth decay in 5 year olds

-          Population vaccine cover

 

Where we are now

-          Delivering elements of Healthy Child Programme

-          Key professionals in safeguarding children and young people

-          NCMP – offering targeted advice and support

-          Integrated HV and SN Team to support seamless transition

-          Delivery of efficient and effective vaccination programmes

-          Use of system one to evidence outcomes

-          Working in partnership on Early Help Strategies

-          Offering and co-ordinating targeted support for children and families – CAF’s

-          Use of the 4 level Service model to categorise need in caseloads on SystmOne e.g. Universal Plus

-          Working with agencies to promote emotional health at tier 1

-          Offering signposting and support on sexual health

-          ‘brief interventions’ to promote healthy lifestyles

 

What does a good Service look like?

-          A high quality evidence based service

-          An appropriately skilled School Health Team

-          Efficient delivery of our local Service model

-          Involvement of children, young people and families and stakeholders in development, review and evaluation

-          All children and young people from school entry age have access to a skilled Public Health Nursing Service

-          Working in partnership to get best outcomes

-          School Nursing recognised as a career opportunity

 

The updated Rotherham Service Specification

-          Focuses on quality health improvement (outcome measures)

-          Is detailed and more prescriptive than the previous specifications

-          Has to acknowledge the intense work of the vaccination programme and National Child Measuring programme

-          Recognises the separate commissioning of the vaccination programme (NHS England responsibility)

-          Ensures children and young people from school entry age have access to a skilled Public Health Nursing Service

-          Will deliver the specification (still subject to contract negotiations) with a 10% reduction in the Service contract budget

 

Discussion ensued on the presentation with the following issues raised/clarified:-

 

·           School Nursing for Special Schools was commissioned separately by the CCG

 

·           The Service consisted of 15.5 full-time equivalent School Nurses, 2 full-time equivalent Staff Nurses and 3 support staff who carried out the Child Measuring Programme and support

 

·           Usually 1 Team would cover a School Learning Community consisting of 1 secondary school and the cluster primary schools.  Some did have 2 secondary schools – it was based on numbers.  Academies were involved

 

·           The Service was generally based on need and deprivation scoring, however, some had significantly higher numbers of deprivation

 

·           The caseload was between 3,500-4,000 children per Team

 

·           Public Health commissioned the Service from Rotherham Foundation Trust.   It would transfer to the Council hopefully next financial year

 

·           The contract would be performance managed by Public Health

 

·           A large part of the Service/time was spent on the National Child Measuring Programme and School Vaccination and Immunisation Programme which was not a Local Authority responsibility.  However, there were issues with regard to the funding of the Programme so it had been agreed that in Rotherham it would be a transition year and the contract for School Nursing and the School Immunisation and Vaccination Service would be separated and contracted separately next year.  This was a national problem and had been raised with the Local Government Association

 

·           Some schools did not want to have a School Nurse on site which was an issue for the children not knowing how to access the Service.  If the school still wanted a vaccination programme but not necessarily a presence on site, a compromise would be reached.  Within the specification this issue had been addressed by the use of social media to promote the Service

 

·           Outcome measures for child protection were statutory and were very clear, stipulated in the Safeguarding priorities

 

·           Concern that the standard of school nursing in Special Schools had deteriorated

 

Anna was thanked for her presentation.

 

Resolved:-  (1)  That the presentation be noted and a future update be provided in due course.

 

(2)  That a report on School Nursing in Special Schools be submitted to a future meeting.

 

(3)  That the Strategic Director, Children’s and Young Peoples Services, be contacted to ascertain the position with regard to those schools not participating in the School Nursing Service.