Growing Healthy 0-19 North Yorkshire

Welcome to The Healthy Child Service (0-19 Service)

The role of the Healthy Child Service is to deliver the Healthy Child Programme for children aged 0-19 years and their families.

Some of the services within it are for all children, such as health visiting. Some are targeted to those most in need, such as vulnerable families and children and young people with emotional health support needs.

There are four pillars in the service:

0-6 Pillar
The Infant Feeding, Family Diet and Nutrition Pillar
The Emotional Health and Resilience Pillar
The Safeguarding and Children in Care Pillar

There are three levels of service:

Universal – Universal services are essential for keeping children safe, has a focus on prevention and is available to all, this level of service offers support to parents at key times.
Targeted – Targeted services is the delivery of early intervention, evidence-based programmes are delivered to meet needs in a timely way. This is when specific expert help is needed.
Specialist – Specialist services are for children and young people whose needs cannot be met through universal and targeted provisions, this provides ongoing support in partnership with other services to deal with more complex issues over a period of time.

We have a Single Point of Contact where Parents, carers and professionals can contact the 0-19 Healthy Child Service directly for information by calling 03003 030 916

Each pillar delivers a different aspect of the service.

0-6 Children’s Pillar

All families with a child under six in North Yorkshire have access to a Growing Healthy 0-6 Team consisting of health visitors, family health practitioners, family health nurses 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 can support via home contacts, virtual contacts, and specialist breast feeding support in community venues. The service works in partnership with other agencies to ensure all families receive individualised and appropriate support.

North Yorkshire Growing Healthy 0-6 Pillar offers a programme of:

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

Some common areas of information and support:

Pregnancy and transition into parenthood
Infant feeding/ 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

Healthy Child Programme (HCP)

The Healthy Child Programme is a public health programme for children, young people and families which focus on early intervention and prevention this is delivered in your home and via virtual contacts.

We deliver the Health Child Programme via:

Antenatal contact – usually after 28weeks in pregnancy, this visit provides an opportunity for building a relationship with you and your family before the baby arrives. We will discuss health and wellbeing and preparation for parenthood. This can be via a virtual platform or face to face contact in the family home.
New birth visit at 10-14 days – The aim is to support and develop skills and confidence in new parents by sharing information on family and child health issues. Discuss maternal and family health and wellbeing. This is a face to face contact in the family home.
Contact at 6-8 weeks – carried out by Health Visitors review baby’s development growth and feeding. Discuss maternal and family health and wellbeing. This can be via a virtual platform or face to face contact in the family home .
A child health review/development assessment by one year of age. This can be via a virtual platform or face to face contact in the family home.
A child health review/development assessment by two and a half years of age. This is a face to face contact in the family home. We can also complete an integrated review with your child’s early years provision.

Anyone who is pregnant or has a child up to the age of 6 years will have a named Health Visitor.

We have a Single Point of Contact where Parents, carers and professionals can contact their local 0-6 Healthy Child Service (Health Visiting Team) directly for information by calling 03003 030 916

Get-your-vitamins-here

Applying For Healthy Start – FAQs

The Infant Feeding, Family Diet and Nutrition Pillar

This pillar offers breast feeding support through proactice telephone calls and breastfeeding support groups.

There are workshops delivered about introducing solids.

Groups to support healthy diet and lifestyle for families.

Measurements for the National Child Measurement Programme are recorded by the team in schools for children in Reception and year 6

The Emotional Health and Resilience Pillar

Requests for support and referrals are accepted from professionals, parents and self-referrals for children and young people aged 6-19 for:

Low mood
Anger
Anxiety
Self-esteem
Building resilience
Managing Emotions
Behaviour Management linked to emotional health concern.

Following a referral into the team a nurse will undertake an assessment which builds on the information provided as part of the referral. This health assessment includes reviewing: development; risk indicators; advice; family health needs assessment; voice of the child; analysis; agreeing a plan and actions and outcomes.

Support and Intervention

Targeted support is offered, low level interventions over 6- 8 sessions delivering face to face or virtual work to support with the identified need.

Children’s Wellbeing Practitioners support children and young people experiencing mild to moderate mental health difficulties and their families in the self-management of presenting difficulties. Providing a range of information and support for evidence based psychological treatments.

The Safeguarding and Children in Care Pillar

Our team consists of Public Health Nurses, Family Health Nurses, and a Child Lived Experience Practitioner. Our team delivers targeted and specialist support for children and young people who are supported under a child in care arrangement or who are in receipt of support from social care services.

For children and young people supported as a child in care, they will receive statutory review health assessments either every 6 months (aged 0-5 years) or every year (aged 5-18 years). This assessment aims to take a child-centred approach to tailor and coordinate an individualised health care plan, which will feed into other assessments and avenues of support to ensure that their health and wellbeing needs are being met and reviewed. This offer of support will remain ongoing for the duration of the time a child or young person is supported as a child in care and for a year post-leaving care.

For children and young people who are receiving support through social care, we offer the completion of a family health needs assessment. This allows for the opportunity to review all aspects of development, including physical and emotional health.

The nurse completing the assessment will talk openly with you, with your consent, to understand and identify any health needs that require additional support or intervention to promote health and development. Following this assessment, we will communicate our proposed care plan and either complete direct work via the 0-19 Healthy Child Service, make onward referrals to partner agencies, or signpost to local providers. Throughout our service involvement, the nurse or practitioner will aim to unpick your lived experience and advocate for your health needs to ensure that you have access to timely and relevant health and wellbeing support.

The initial assessment appointment will take approximately 1 hour, and the location can be negotiated to best suit the child/young person.

Areas where we may support children and young people include:

Sleep
Diet and Nutrition
Sexual Health
Emotional Health and Resilience Support
Development
Lived Experience Work

During our involvement with the child/young person, we will remain engaged, support, and contribute to any multi-agency meetings, and will visit to review the identified needs following the assessment. This frequency will be communicated to the family and child/young person.

Contacts

The North Yorkshire 0-19 Children’s Service can be contacted Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm, excluding bank holidays.

A Single Point of Contact telephone number is in place for the North Yorkshire 0-6 Children’s Service team.

This telephone number is: 0300 303 0916

Referral

If you are having a baby, your midwife will inform the Health Visiting Service that you are pregnant. A health visitor will then contact you to arrange an antenatal visit.

If you are new to the area, your GP will normally notify the Health Visiting Team. We will then get in touch to arrange a meeting.

If you have a child under five, please contact your Health Visiting Team directly. You can usually find the number in your child’s red book.