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Health visitors are registered nurses/midwives who have additional training in community public health nursing.
The Health Visiting Service is rated as Outstanding by the Care Quality Commission.
In Sandwell, health visitors work from bases in each area of Sandwell. The team includes community nursery nurses, staff in training and administrative assistance from our health visiting contact centre. Each team is lead by a team leader.
Health visitors work with other professionals as part of the Primary Healthcare Team. These include GPs, Midwives, Early Years Workers and Children’s Centre staff.
Services
Health visitors work with parents and carers who have new babies, offering support from the antenatal period until your child starts school at five years. Health visitors may see you at home or in clinics and invite you to join groups and networks run by either us or our colleagues such as nursery nurses or children’s centre staff.
Every GP practice in Sandwell has a named health visitor.
We offer advice and information on a wide variety of health issues in order to promote and encourage healthy lifestyles for you and your family. We offer developmental reviews of your child for early detection of any problems. To address any concerns you may have and provide appropriate advice and support.
Each family can expect as a minimum five contacts.
These are:
- Antenatal contact
- Postnatal visit between 10-14 days of birth
- Six to eight weeks after delivery
- Nine to 12 months
- Two to two-and-a-half-year-old
Health visiting teams provide four levels of service:
- Community – services provided in the local community.
- Universal – contact at key stages offered to all families.
- Universal Plus – support when you need it.
- Universal Partnership Plus – ongoing support for families/children
Health visitors can provide help with a wide range of issues related to the health and wellbeing of your children. In addition to this, we can provide support and advice for a range of public health issues such as:
- Stopping smoking
- Postnatal depression
- Domestic abuse
- Safeguarding advice
- Contraception and sexual health
SEND and identifying needs
Developments are offered to all children via the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ) with enhanced screening using Schedule of Growing Skills (SOGS) when indicated. In addition, screening support can be provided by a specialist speech and language therapist, who is embedded in the service to support early identification of Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) and signposting to available resources via the website:
All early year settings, including nurseries, childminders, and family hub practitioners have access to WellComm Screening training and resources to enable early identification of SLCN and provide early intervention and support to parents until the referral from ISEY is accepted
Health visitor referrals into the Inclusive Services Early Years (ISEY) provides access to support for children and their parents.
Early Help
When we all need extra help:
At times, we are required to take a partnership approach, particularly at times when it is difficult for one single agency to deliver effective support. This means we work alongside a number of services to help you, your child and family.
We would do this to:
- Provide effective whole family support’ to prevent escalation into statutory services, to ensure families thrive, build resilience and have ambition.
- Create the space for services to work together proactively, identifying and solving problems rather than reacting to crisis.
- Take action to support you and work with you and your family as soon as a problem emerges. This can be at any stage of your child or families life and we’re here to help when you can no longer cope on your own.
- Help your family achieve its full potential.
Our goal is to improve the quality of family life, help children and young people have the best possible start, and to enable children to be safe from harm, happy, healthy and learn.
The Best Start Programme
This service helps pregnant women with their physical and emotional health, as well as those women in their first year of motherhood.
They receive practical tips on their parenting skills, and advice on how to strengthen relationships with close family and friends, including their baby, which in turn ensures that their child will achieve their full potential. Women taking part will be offered six home visits in the antenatal period and 12 home visits from birth to one year. In certain circumstances the Best Start Programme can continue until the child’s second birthday.
The clinic is based at Yew Tree Healthy Living Centre, Redwood Road, Walsall, WSS 4LB.
For more information about the Best Start Programme email swbh-tr.SWBH-GM-FNP@nhs.net or call 01922 423 001.
Baby Clinics
Baby clinics are held throughout Sandwell.
Currently, baby clinics are by appointment only. If you are concerned about your baby or your baby’s weight, please call the contact centre on 0121 612 5021. You will then be referred to your local health visiting team who can arrange a suitable appointment.
Self-weigh and Go
Self-weigh is also available at our baby clinic venues, which can be used when there are no concerns and you just want to see how heavy your baby is. Clear guidance is provided on how to do this at the clinic venues. These are ‘drop in’ sessions.
Clinic Timetable
| Clinic | Date/Time | Contact Details |
|---|---|---|
| Happy Faces Children’s Centre, Windsor Road, Rowley Regis, B65 9HU | Mondays: 9.30am – 12.15pm | Appointment only by calling 0121 612 5021 |
| Tipton Family Hub, 24 Ridgeacre Road, Tipton, DY4 0UB | Tuesdays: 9.30am – 12pm | Appointment only by calling 0121 612 5021 |
| The Lyng Centre, Frank Fisher Way, West Bromwich, B70 7AW | Wednesdays: 9.30 – 11.30am | Appointment only by calling 0121 612 5021 |
| Friar Park Children’s Centre, Priory Family Centre, Dorsett Road, Wednesbury, WS10 0JG | Thursdays: 9.30 – 11.30am | Appointment only by calling 0121 612 5021 |
| Smethwick Family Hub, Corbett Street, Smethwick, B66 3PX | Thursdays: 9.30am – 3.30pm | Appointment only by calling 0121 612 5021 |
| Hillside Community Centre, Connor Road, West Bromwich, B71 3DJ | Fridays (second and fouth day of the month): 9.30am – 12.15pm | Appointment only by calling 0121 612 5021 |
| Oldbury Health Centre, Albert Street, Oldbury, B69 4DE | Fridays: 10 – 11.30am | Appointment only by calling 0121 612 5021 |
Help and Support
Useful Websites and Organisations
Black Country Women’s Aid
The organisation supports survivors of domestic abuse and sexual violence. See below for contact details.
0121 553 0090 (9am-5pm) for advice or access to support services.
0121 552 6448 24 hour helpline for advice or seeking a refuge placement out of hours.
999 for anyone in immediate danger.
Smoking Cessation support
The Baby Check App features 19 simple checks that parents can do if their baby is showing signs of illness. For more information go to: lullabytrust.org.uk/safer-sleep-advice/baby-check-app/
Infant Feeding support
See more information here: swbh.nhs.uk/services/infant-feeding-team/
Free antenatal class online
A free antenatal course for all Sandwell parents is available.
For more information go to: healthysandwell.co.uk/free-antenatal-classes/
Safe sleep information
For more information go to: lullabytrust.org.uk
Emotional health support
Sandwell Healthy Minds offers brief psychological therapy for people experiencing common mental health problems such as low mood anxiety and stress. For more information go to: www.sandwellhealthyminds.nhs.uk
Children’s Therapies
The Children’s Therapy and Nurse Service is an integrated service consisting of Community Children’s Nurses, Occupational Therapists, physiotherapists, and Speech and Language Therapists.
Healthy Sandwell
Healthy Sandwell offers support for all ages, families and individuals to get more active, eat better, and maintain a healthy weight for good. There is also support if you want to give up smoking or alcohol and they offer advice on a range of other health issues too. For further information please visit www.healthysandwell.co.uk or call 0121 569 5100 or 0800 011 4656.
Sandwell Wellbeing Hub
A range of group and individual talking therapies to help improve emotional health and wellbeing, including self-help material, group work and individual talking and listening services which will improve your confidence, wellbeing and emotional health. Please visit their website at: http://www.sandwellbeing.co.uk/ for more information.
Sandwell Council Website
For childcare, financial, housing, financial and family support go to: https://fis.sandwell.gov.uk/
Healthy Start vitamins
You’ll qualify for the Healthy Start scheme if you’re at least 10 weeks pregnant or you have at least one child who is under four and you are in receipt of benefits. Click here for more information.
Weaning Advice
Current guidance recommends introducing solids to your baby from around six months of age, giving breast milk or first stage infant formula for the first six months. These will provide all the nutrients and energy your baby needs for the best start to life. When starting weaning at six months introduce a variety of vegetables, fruit, and protein rich food such as meat, fish, beans and cooked eggs. Starchy foods such as potatoes, bread, rice, pasta and pasteurised dairy products like full fat plain yoghurt and cheese. Please see meal plan ideas in the web links section, or visit http://www.nhs.uk/start4life/first-foods or the building blocks brochure.
More information can be found from First Steps Nutrition who have produced a good guide to what young babies and children should be eating and drinking. It also discusses portion sizes.
If you like see a structured weaning plan, the Dairy Council have devised the following meal plans that you can follow:
Older babies and their diet
As your baby gets older you can introduce more things to their diet. You can also gradually make the food less runny. The website discusses feeding children of other age ranges too.
Vitamins
If your baby is formula feeding at the age of 1 year, you can now give them full fat cow’s milk to drink instead of formula. You would also need to give them vitamin D daily; your pharmacist can advise you which product is best for your child. If you are breast feeding continue to give vitamin D daily.
Looking after your child’s teeth
As soon as your child’s teeth start to come through, you can start brushing them. Use a baby toothbrush twice a day with a tiny smear of fluoride toothpaste. Try to protect their teeth by avoiding fruit juice and sugary and fizzy drinks. Water or milk are the best drinks for your child. Find out more here.
Contact Centre
The Health Visiting contact centre is your first port of call if you need to speak to the team.
Your call will be answered by a member of the administration team, who will take your details and a message. This will then be forwarded to your Health Visiting team, and a member of the team will return your call to help with your query.
Call the team at: 0121 612 5021.
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