Services

Health Visiting

School Nursing (5-19) service criteria

School Nursing (5-19) criteria

Information about the changes to the School Nursing service for Children and Young People in Kirklees

The Locala School Nursing service provides health and care support and advice for children and young people aged 5-19 years (and up to 25-year-olds with SEND) across Kirklees.

From 1st April 2024, changes are being made to the services School Nurses deliver. This is part of the wider changes to commissioning arrangements for Thriving Kirklees.

School Nurses will continue to provide a responsive service for children and young people. The 5-19 service will continue to:

  • Provide support and advice around sexual health and drugs and alcohol.
  • Provide The National Child Measurement Programme (weighing and measuring children) together with vision screening and hearing screening. (when a concern is raised).
  • Offer online self-assessment health questionnaires to children entering reception.
  • Follow up A&E attendance by children and young people when a concern is raised.
  • Attend GP link meetings.
  • Offer online parenting courses and virtual advice in schools.
  • Provide the ChatHealth texting advice for parents and 11–19-year-olds.
  • Attend all initial safeguarding meetings and support children and young people where there are recognised unmet health needs.
  • Provide a School Nursing service for children and young people in existing Alternative Provisions.
  • Offer an enhanced paid-for service for schools who wish to fund bespoke School Nursing.

Children and young people with long term conditions will continue to be supported by GP, paediatricians, specialist consultants and nurses.

Children Looked After (CLA) health reviews will be undertaken by the Locala CLA Team.

School Nurses will no longer be able to offer some interventions.  Whilst schools support their children and young people with a range of issues, we also wanted to provide signposting support and advice.  These are detailed below, together with information on where you can access this support elsewhere.

 

No longer offered via School Nursing

Where else can this support be accessed

Emotional health and wellbeing contacts for low-level mental health issues such as anxiety, low mood and phobias.

 

Children’s emotional health and wellbeing, as well as mental health provision, will be offered via the new Kirklees Keep in Mind service Kirklees Keep in Mind - Helping young people improve their mental health (kirklees-keep-in-mind.nhs.uk)

Hygiene advice including headlice, menstruation, puberty.

Signpost to pharmacy for headlice or GP if medical support for menstruation/puberty required.

 

Toileting advice including continence, constipation.

GP where medical advice is required.

 

GP to determine if referral to Children’s Continence Service may be required.

Diet or nutrition advice, including help with disordered eating, growth and weight.

Diet and nutrition advice is given as part of the NCMP programme feedback through parental and school contact at Reception Year and Year 6, and further information can be found at Healthier Families - Home - NHS (www.nhs.uk).

 

For eating disorders support is available for those with significant risk or impairment (such as anorexia nervosa or bulimia) via Child and adolescent mental health service (CAMHS) (Kirklees) - South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.

 

The NHS has information for parents about eating disorders in children and young people (Advice for parents – Eating disorders - NHS (www.nhs.uk) and The UK's Eating Disorder Charity - Beat (beateatingdisorders.org.uk) provides further information.

 

Additional advice may also be obtained via school and family GP.

Additional healthcare advice and information can also be found at: Home :: West Yorkshire Healthier Together (wyhealthiertogether.nhs.uk).

Other sources of support include -