Growing Healthy 0-19 Darlington

Welcome to Growing Healthy 0-19 years services in Darlington

Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust is responsible for providing 0-19 services in Darlington on behalf of Darlington Borough Council through a Section 75 Agreement.

Section 75 Agreements are designed to improve the experience of services for the people who use them.

Single Point of contact telephone number: 03000 030013

The role of the 0-5 Service is to protect and promote the health and wellbeing of children under five and their families. The 5-19 team promotes and protects the health and wellbeing of all children and young people aged 5 to 19.

0-5 Children’s Service

All families with a child under five in Darlington have access to a Growing Healthy 0-5 Team consisting of health visitors, Screeners, early years practitioners and infant feeding specialists. They provide expert health assessments, advice, support and interventions for babies, children and families.

The team encourages and supports parents and carers to develop life-long skills to enable them to make informed choices that affect their family’s future health and wellbeing.

The team is community-based and is accessible at a range of different venues including the family home, Family centres and community venues. The service works in partnership with other agencies to ensure all families receive individualised and appropriate support.

Health Visitors

Health visitors are registered nurses or midwives who have an additional qualification in specialist community public health nursing. They are highly skilled in the assessment and co-ordination of support tailored to individual and family needs.

The team aims to help build parents’ confidence in their ability to give their child the best start in life and listen carefully and support when parents have concerns. It identifies and builds on what is going well, and provides information to help parents find their own solutions to problems where possible.

The Darlington Growing Healthy 0-5 Service offers a programme of:

Screening tests
Immunisation advice
Developmental reviews
Maternal and Infant Mental Health Support
Information and guidance to support parenting and healthy lifestyle choices

Useful Links

Applying For Healthy Start – FAQs

www.nenc-healthiertogether.nhs.uk

Healthy Child Programme (HCP)

The Healthy Child Programme (HCP) is a public health programme for children, young people and families which focuses on early intervention and prevention. The HCP offers a programme of screening tests, immunisations, developmental reviews, information and guidance to support parenting and healthy lifestyle choices.

The Healthy Child Programme contacts include:

Antenatal contact
New birth visit at 10-14 days
Contact at 6-8 weeks
Contact at 3-4 months
A child health review/development assessment by one year of age
A child health review/development assessment by two and a half years of age
A child health review/development assessment may be offered between 3-5 years

Some common areas of information and support:

Pregnancy and transition into parenthood
Infant feeding/ specialist breast feeding support
Growth and nutrition
Healthy eating
Dental health
Development
Behaviour
Accident prevention
Safe sleeping
Speech and language development
Immunisations
Common childhood illness/infection
Safeguarding
Postnatal depression and emotional wellbeing
Parenting

Our service is delivered in partnership with a range of health, social and education organisations and teams including:

CAMHS
Early Help
Early Years Education providers
GPs/paediatricians
Voluntary sector
Sexual Health Services

Child health clinics

Child health and infant feeding clinics are held across Darlington Borough, see clinic tab at the top of the page. Clinic appointments can be booked via the Children’s Health Services App or by calling 03000030013

Referral

The service accepts referrals from:

Midwifery services
GPs and other professionals
Self-referral from parents/carers
Other statutory and voluntary agencies

5-19 Healthy Child Service

We work with children, young people and families to empower and enable them to make informed decisions about health and to support them in transitioning safely and happily into adult life. The Darlington Growing Healthy 5-19 Team works in the home and community settings to deliver universal and targeted interventions designed to meet public health outcomes. We ensure the emotional and physical health and wellbeing of families, children and young people across Darlington.

We provide a service to all children and young people of school age, and their families, whether or not they are attending school. The service is based on the Healthy Child Programme from 5-19 years old. We offer advice and information and assess health needs on children entering school and on transfer to secondary schools. We are the first point of contact for schools when there are concerns about a child’s health and wellbeing.

We are also responsible for:

Measuring and weighing children in reception and year 6 as part of the National Child Measurement Programme
Universal screening for vision and audiology for reception children
Providing first level enuresis (involuntary urination) advice and support
Providing emotional health and wellbeing support
Supporting children and families with additional health needs or disability
Parenting and behavioural problems
Risk taking behaviour including drugs and alcohol
Stop smoking advice
Relationships, sexual health and pregnancy
Promoting healthy lifestyles in schools and communities through health education

Specialist advice and support will also be offered to:

Children in need of protection and their families; children and families in need; foster carers and children who are in care.

Growing Healthy Darlington 5-19 Team

The team comprises specialist community public health nurses (School Nurse), community staff nurses , Public Health Practitionor, school screeners and health administrators.

We work closely with Health Visitors so that children and families with complex health and social care needs are identified early. We support the development and implementation of health management plans to promote the child’s health and wellbeing, school attendance, education and attainment.

When young people and families require targeted interventions, these may be provided solely by the School Nursing Team.

Service Manager – Caren Shepherd

Locality Manager – Michelle Eccles and Hayley Agnew