Agenda item

To consider how health and wellbeing of staff and pupils is being supported in schools - Report enclosed.

Kate Sahota, Commissioning Lead for Health Improvement introduced this item. As part of its Public Health duties, Warwickshire County Council commissioned a healthy child programme, which was delivered through the School Health and Wellbeing Service (SHWBS) by a third sector organisation, Compass. The SHWBS was confidential and freely available for all school-aged children and young people, their families and carers. It delivered preventative and universal public health programmes in schools across the county, as well as in other locations. The team of school nurses, community staff nurses, healthcare support workers and administrators, operated out of three area administrative hubs. Details were provided of the core SHWBS activities. A needs assessment undertaken in 2014 made 15 key recommendations for the commissioning of the service. The SHWBS

had undergone significant change following the previous commissioning exercise.

Of the 15 recommendations, 13 had been implemented fully, with two still being in progress. In addition, an audit had assessed how well the service was delivering against the current specification and the framework of the Healthy Child Programme. Of the 51 areas, there was evidence to demonstrate achievement of 49, with a further two requiring additional evidence. Public Health had completed a comprehensive review of the service delivery model, to establish the impact of the changes and help shape future service delivery as part of the new contract, from 1 November 2019. This had included a public consultation with parents, carers, schools and key stakeholders. Service delivery was monitored through quarterly performance reporting and contract meetings, with annual reports summarising the progress made on key priorities. An example of this was provided in an extract of a previous annual report.

In terms of future service delivery, six priorities had been identified for the

commissioning of the new service from 1 November 2019 which concerned:

• Robust communication methods being developed and implemented

• Mental and emotional health and wellbeing

• The rising number of hospital admissions as a result of self-harm

• School readiness

• Positive lifestyle choices

• Revising the service specification to incorporate the recommendations from

the most recent national documents relating to commissioning of age 5-19

Public Health Services.

Nationally, six high impact areas had been identified as the most important areas to focus on, in order to maximise positive health and wellbeing outcomes for children and young people. These were detailed in the report, together with the key elements of the revised service from November 2019, showing the proposed service level and core activities. The service would continue to be monitored through contract meetings and the publication of annual reports as a continuation of the existing arrangements. The financial implications of the new contract were reported.

The following questions and comments were submitted by members with responses provided as indicated:

• The qualifications of practitioners. These comprised specialist community

public health and staff nurses and family intervention workers.

• How the service was publicised and levels of awareness amongst pupils and

their parents, for example of how to access the service. Also, whether there

were additional services in place for emotional health and wellbeing. There

were a variety of ways through which this took place. Examples were the

correspondence to parents at the start of the school year (years reception,

six and nine), that their child would undertake a health needs assessment

and information for school newsletters to publicise such things as dentistry.

There were confidential text message services both for pupils and their

parents. An update was given on an emotional health and wellbeing lead

role which had been in place for two years and was now a core part of the

contract.

• Schools had been involved in setting the criteria for the new contract. Further

information was sought on how they would be engaged in the outcomes and

impact of the revised service. An outline was given of the various methods

employed, to ensure good and continued engagement with schools,

including teacher interviews, attending meetings and conferences, to seek

feedback and understand the challenges faced.

• It was asked if the service was delivered on a school-wide basis or focussed

on each pupil requiring support. The questionnaires provided fundamental

information to assess the pupil health and wellbeing profile of the school.

From this, working with the headteacher or their nominee three annual

priorities were agreed for that school. Issues flagged from individual

questionnaires were also followed up for that child.

• In terms of safeguarding, it was questioned how this service aligned with

others involved in safeguarding. The role of the school nurse included

completing a health assessment and to consider whether it was appropriate

for the service to attend case conference meetings.

• Detail was requested about how the service sought to ensure pupils were

school ready. There had been a successful two-year pilot scheme. Strong

relations had been built with those working in early years’ services. The

service produced literature and sought to ensure a partnership approach with

parents and others to ensure their children were school ready.

Resolved

That the Committee notes the progress of the service since 1 November 2015, and the future direction beyond the start of the new contract on 1 November 2019.