Agenda item

Report of the Director of Public Health

Committee received a report on the work of the 0-19 Public Health Nursing Service since the start of the contract with Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust (HDFT) in July 2018. The model is based on the Public Health England model which is the 4-5-6 approach for health visiting and school nursing.

It was noted that there is regular performance management with quality reporting taking place every quarter where particular key themes are looked at. In terms of 2019/20 performance the target for Health Visitor mandated visits is 85%, this has been exceeded and is being steadily maintained.  Breastfeeding status at 6-8 weeks is recorded for 99.4% of cases. Previously there were issues in relation to capturing this data electronically and this has been worked on over the past year. For the first three quarters of the year the average percentage of infants being breastfeed at 6-8 weeks is 39.4%, this was previously between 37-38% therefore progress is being made. However, performance in Newcastle continues to be higher than in Gateshead in respect of breastfeeding.

It was reported that changes have been made in terms of service provision with the introduction of electronic case management through SystmOne. This system captures, manages and reports all clinical data.

There is now a dedicated 0-19 SEND Team which offers targeted interventions around toileting, sleep, play, behaviour, communication, anxiety and routines. The Team focuses on transition years.

There is a dedicated Emotional Resilience Nurse who provides advice, consultation, training and professional support for staff. This nurse will help schools to develop strategies to ensure emotional wellbeing needs of the whole school, this is through school assemblies, group work and virtual drop ins.

There is a dedicated thematic lead for infant feeding to increase figures and achieve stage 2 accreditation of the Baby Friendly Initiative. Antenatal support is offered as well as a full breastfeeding assessment at the newborn visit.

The Integrated Referral Team (IRT) now has a Specialist Nurse Child Protection within the team which was not part of the original model.

It was reported that the Growing Healthy Pathway was launched in December, this is a Health Visitor led pathway supporting families through the early identification of need. This allows an enhanced offer of support including increased contacts.

It was noted that equality and diversity principles are embedded across the service which allows different needs to be responded to. For example, there is a special Jewish clinic for Jewish families as well as virtual drop ins.

Committee was advised that a strong digital strategy is in place and there is a big following on various social media channels. Work is ongoing to support young people in school transitions and staff health and wellbeing.

It was questioned how the current service compares to what was in place previously. It was noted that there are now good working relationships with Harrogate and District Trust and therefore officers are able to identify what is not working well and how this can be improved. Staff are now in-house instead of being a commissioner provider relationship. In terms of value for money it was noted that 20 Health Visitors have been lost due to a reduced budget, however there has been an increase in the number of mandated contacts.

The point was made that there is a link between tongue tie and the ability to breastfeed. It was confirmed that any cases in Gateshead are referred to the RVI in Newcastle and that in Gateshead a full breastfeeding assessment is carried out so they can identify issues such as tongue tie early and refer on.

RESOLVED    -           That the Committee noted the contents of the report.