Teen Health 11-19

The Healthy Child Programme is a national evidence-based public health programme which delivers health improvement, prevention, identification and early intervention for children, young people, and families across Leicestershire and Rutland.

The whole service was delivered by Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust through the Healthy Together initiative.

However, from 1 September, Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust is delivering support for 0-11 year olds (including health visiting and school nursing up until year 6 of primary school) in Leicestershire and Rutland.

If a young person lives in or attends a secondary school in either Leicestershire or Rutland, they will be able to access the new Teen Health 11-19 service, supporting secondary school aged young people with health and wellbeing. 
 
This new service is now part of the Family Help Service in Leicestershire County Council and part of the Early Help and Inclusion service in Rutland.

Following collaboration with young people, the new service is called Teen Health 11-19 service. It was designed following consultation with schools, parents/carers, and young people, so that schools can focus and prioritise on prevention and early intervention.

A key ambition of the new service is to empower young people to be able to make informed decisions about their own health and wellbeing.

With a focus on both prevention and early intervention, the service has been designed, so that schools can prioritise the issues that are most important and significant for them. We expect priorities may change over time as health needs change, however, the current focus is on:

• Support to improve mental health and emotional wellbeing with a focus on: 
  • Self esteem
  • Body image
  • Building resilience
• Supporting healthy relationships: 
  • Building positive relationships
  • Reduce violence in intimate relationships
  • Promoting positive sexual health and wellbeing
• Supporting children and young people to make healthier choices with a focus on: 
  • Reducing substance misuse particularly cannabis use
  • Reducing alcohol consumption
  • For Rutland there is an additional priority around improving sleep.

The new service focuses on both prevention and early intervention.

Some schools will already be using some or all of the services that are offered through three main strands:

1. Support to schools
The new service includes 15 Young People’s Health and Wellbeing Officers in Leicestershire and two Team Leader posts who have been supporting the teams in Leicestershire. In Rutland there is a Health and Wellbeing Officer and a Health and Wellbeing Coordinator.

Each secondary school will have a Health and Wellbeing Officer to connect with to ensure health needs of young people can be met. Officers will regularly touch base at each school.

Working closely with young people, the officers in these roles will be focused on identifying where support is needed and intervening early, making any necessary referrals to ensure adolescents continue to foster good health and strive for educational success.

The officers will be hosted in schools for part of the school week during term time, so they can work closely alongside pastoral and health and wellbeing leads within schools. As support is also available during school holidays, we are working on whether this would be on a school site or in the community.

2. Digital app – YouHQ

YouHQ is a digital app that allows young people to input their thoughts, emotions, and goals into an online platform which can be accessed on a mobile phone, tablet, or computer.

Encouraging young people to understand and manage their own health and wellbeing as they mature is vital. Spotting signs through mood tracking or setting goals can prove useful for early intervention and prevention in adulthood.

If your school is interested in enabling access to YouHQ, please get in touch with the Teen Health 11-19 service who will be able to advise further.

3. Healthy Schools Programme

The Healthy School Programme is a universal offer that includes access to Health Schools Team Health Improvement Offer for a whole school approach to health and wellbeing. Providing practical advice and support with planning as well as signposting to further guidance, access to specialist support, and resources to enhance the work of schools.

School nurses are employed by Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust and will continue their role at primary schools and to work with primary school pupils up until year 6.

Those school nurses who have been serving secondary schools in Leicestershire and Rutland, will continue to be employed by Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust and have been redeployed within the service where there is the most demand for support. School nurses will continue to operate in secondary schools in Leicester City, as there is no change to their current service (which is commissioned by Leicester City Council).

In the new service run by Leicestershire County Council, the school nurse role has now been replaced with health and wellbeing officers who are part of the wider early help offer in Children and Families Services.

No, this does not affect primary and secondary schools in Leicester City or local authorities bordering Leicestershire County. They still commission a school nursing service which is managed under separate local authority contracts.

The new Teen Health 11-19 Service is for young people who attend secondary schools in Leicestershire County and Rutland.

The new service will cover a lot of the support that schools already engage with, including the Healthy Schools Programme, YouHQ App, and wider pupil support.

If a young person’s health and wellbeing need is not supported by the new service, appropriate signposting or referrals to the relevant health professional will be carried out to support them in getting the help they need.

Health assessments previously provided by school nursing will not be provided unless the young person is subject to safeguarding.

Under the current arrangements within the Teen Health Service if a child lives in Leicestershire or Rutland the Safeguarding Nurses, who are placed within First Response (Early Help front Door) will complete a Health Assessment for strategy meetings or initial child protection conferences. A baseline assessment (not a clinical health assessment) is carried out for those who are accessing the Teen Health support regardless of whether they are subject to safeguarding or not.

There is still a school nursing service for young people attending secondary school outside of the county e.g. those bordering Leicestershire and Rutland.

The new Health and Wellbeing Officers will begin their new roles from mid-November and each officer will cover three schools, regularly touching base at each.

Working closely with schools and partners, we hope to make the transition as smooth as possible. During the transition period from August to mid-November, a minimal, reactive service will be provided. This means those officers in post will offer support where a referral is made. By January 2023 there will be a full public health offer from Teen Health to support young people in secondary schools in the county.

Schools have been sent communications to inform staff, parents and pupils of the new service and how to access it.

Over the next few months, we hope to increase our engagement with pupils to encourage them to make full use of the service on offer to them. Health and Wellbeing officers will be in touch with schools (if not already) to introduce themselves and talk about what support they can offer.

Giving our children the best start in life and supporting them through their educational adolescent years is of utmost importance and, with the new changes, we hope the service we have designed will better cater for the needs, and have far reaching improved consequences, for young people in Leicestershire and Rutland.

Consultation with schools, pupils, and parents has highlighted to us what the priorities are for the people of Leicestershire and our aim is to tailor support services to reflect the current demands from young people.

Yes, support is available all year round, including term time and school holidays.

If you need support and live in Leicestershire, you can email teenhealth@leics.gov.uk or phone 0116 305 8727.

If you live in Rutland and need support, email ypservices@rutland.gov.uk or phone 01572 758301.

Referrals can be made by the school, by a parent, professionals including GPs and directly by the young person. All referrals must be made with the consent of the child or young person, or their parent or carer (if appropriate).

Referrals can be made via the Teen Health 11-19 referral form.

New referrals into the Teen Health 11-19 service will be taken through an online Teen Health 11-19 referral form.

Professionals can use this form to refer young people, however, consent from the young person or their family will be needed. We cannot offer a service without consent.

Young people can also self-refer. If you have any questions about submitting a referral, call 0116 305 8727 or email teenhealth@leics.gov.uk.

New referrals into the Teen Health 11-19 service will be processed through their single point of access via Early Help by calling 01572 758493 or emailing earlyhelp@rutland.gov.uk..

GPs can access advice and support for young people they work with by either calling 01572 758493 or by emailing earlyhelp@rutland.gov.uk.

Consent from the young person or their family will be needed.

Young people will be able to access the service by contacting a Healthy and Wellbeing officer for general enquiries by emailing ypservices@rutland.gov.uk or calling 01572 758301.

Yes, the Teen Health 11-19 Service does support special schools. The new service offer is universal and accessible to all young people and adapted, as appropriate, to meet individual needs.

However, the offer for special schools is mostly virtual / online. If you need more information or would like to talk to someone about how the service can help special schools, contact the Teen Health service:

• For Leicestershire call 0116 305 8727 or email teenhealth@leics.gov.uk
• For Rutland call 01572 758493 or email earlyhelp@rutland.gov.uk

Yes. The service will work with children and young people with SEND (aged 11 - 25) for each district locality within Leicestershire.

The service will develop a close working relationship with the range of providers delivering services to children with SEND and develop care pathways that take into account the full range of needs and thresholds to ensure they receive the universal service offer.

Many young people with SEND will already have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) in place that sets out the support that they will need across these agencies. The service will support, where appropriate, to ensure integrated pathways to adult services for children with SEND, making it as smooth as possible.

There is no change in reporting safeguarding concerns. All schools should use the online Multi-Agency Referral Form (MARF) for any safeguarding issues.

Schools will use the ‘Health Related Behaviour Questionnaire’ which was developed by the School Health Education Unit (SHEU). It is a validated questionnaire which produces a detailed profile of young person's life at home, at school/college, and with their friends.

This information can then be used by schools/colleges to promote health education programmes, as well as in class work across the curriculum. Public Health commission this service and it is free for schools to access.

The questionnaire has been conducted on over one million young people across the UK/local regions, and results can be compared to identify benchmark against other local authorities and schools.