Healthier Together Middlesbrough

Healthier Together Middlesbrough provides 0-5 and 5-19 services for young people and families across Middlesbrough.

Single Point of contact telephone number: 0300 303 1603.

The role of the 0-5 Health Visiting Service in Middlesbrough is to protect and promote the health and wellbeing of children under five and their families. The 5-19 services ensures the emotional and physical health and wellbeing of families, children and young people in Middlesbrough.

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0-5 Children’s Service

All families with a child under five in Middlesbrough have access to a Health Visiting 0-5 Team, consisting of Health Visitors, 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 works in 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 Middlesbrough.

The service works in partnership with other agencies to ensure all families receive support.

Locations

The team is community-based and is accessible at a range of different venues including the family home, children’s centres, schools and other community venues.

Child health clinics are held in most areas in in the community (usually children’s centres, or community settings). These clinics are open to all families.

Contact

 The Middlesbrough 0-19 Service central contact number is 0300 303 1603 and email address: [email protected].

Referral to the service

The service accepts referrals from:

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

Opening hours

The 0-19 Service can be contacted Monday-Friday 9am-5pm excluding bank holidays.

Healthy Child Team

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.

We aim to help build parents’ confidence in their ability to give their child the best start in life and listen carefully when parents have concerns. We identify and build on what is going well, and provide information to help parents find their own solutions to problems where possible.

The 0-5 Team comprises specialist Community Public Health Nurses (health visitors), Healthy Child Practitioners (registered nurses), Early Years Practitioners and Administrators.

We have a health visitor nurse linked to each GP practice in the localities in which we work.

We work closely with midwives and school nurses so that children and families with complex health and social care needs are identified early. We then put in place a health management plan to support the child’s health and development, when ready to transfer to school for their education.

When children and families require targeted interventions, these may be provided solely by the Healthy Child Team or delivered in partnership. Common partners for such interventions are midwives, children centres, education, or voluntary sector partners. We liaise with the relevant agencies to provide a ‘one team’ approach.

Healthy Child Programme

The Healthy Child Programme is a public health programme for children, young people and families which focus 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 has five universal contacts:

  • 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.
  • 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 health and wellbeing
  • Contact at 6-8 weeks – ongoing support from health visitor, review babies development growth and feeding. Discuss maternal health and wellbeing.
  • 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

Additional support

For most of us, bringing up children is the most important job we will ever do. It is very rewarding and often challenging.

Health visitors are here to help when families need additional support. This is not something that all parents will need.

We work individually with families, using a plan of care that we develop together to give all children the best possible start in life. As part of the plan, families and health visitors may work closely with other professionals, including midwives, GPs, hospital staff, children centre services and social care.

Some common areas of information and support:

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

Useful links

5-19 Healthy Child Service

All children and young people aged 5-19 and their families have access to the School Nursing team consisting of School Nurses, Staff Nurses, Early Years Practitioners and School Nurse Assistants. They work in partnership 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 team works in 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 Middlesbrough.

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 service works in partnership with other agencies to ensure all families receive support.

Locations

The team is community-based and is accessible at a range of different venues including the family home, children’s centres, schools and other community venues. School drop ins are available in most secondary schools.

Contact

The Middlesbrough 0-19 Service central contact number is 0300 303 1603.

[email protected]

Opening hours

The 0-19 Service can be contacted Monday-Friday 9am-5pm excluding bank holidays.

Referral to the 5-19 service

The service accepts referrals from:

  • Schools
  • GPs and other professionals
  • Self-referral from parents/carers or young people
  • Other statutory and voluntary agencies

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 5-19 Healthy Child Service works in 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 Middlesbrough.

School Nurses

School Nurses 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

We aim to help build parents’ confidence in their ability to give their child the best start in life and listen carefully when parents have concerns. We identify and build on what is going well, and provide information to help parents find their own solutions to problems where possible.

5-19 Team

The 5-19 Team comprises Specialist Community Public Health Nurses (School Nurses), Healthy Child Practitioners (Registered Nurses), Early Year Practitioners, School Nurse Assistants and Administrators.

We have a named nurse linked to each school and GP practice in the localities in which we work.

We work closely with health visitors so that children and families with complex health and social care needs are identified early. We then put in place a health management plan to support the child’s health, school attendance and education.

The School Nursing team provides 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.

Healthy Child Programme

 The Healthy Child Programme is a public health programme for children, young people and families which focus 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.

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 (hearing) screening for reception children
  • There is a designated Immunisation Team who undertake immunisation and vaccinations
  • Providing 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
  • Stopping smoking
  • Relationships, sexual health & 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.

When young people and families require targeted interventions, these may be provided solely by the Healthy Child Team or delivered in partnership. Common partners for such interventions are stronger families, education, weight management services, leisure services or youth services. We liaise with the relevant agencies to provide a ‘one team’ approach.

Partners

The 5-19 Service is delivered in partnership with a range of health, social and education organisations and teams including:

  • Stronger Families
  • Schools
  • Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS)
  • Sexual Health Services
  • Platform
  • Community groups

Key Healthier Together staff:

Service Manager: Tina Steel

Professional Lead: Alyson Harker

Locality Manager: Claire Young

Locality Manager: Carolanne Watson

Locality Manager: Sara Bourner

Locality Manager: Melanie Rowland