BDCFT School Nursing Special Needs

Who we are:

Our School Nursing Special Needs team support children, young people and their families in the Special Needs schools in Bradford, Airedale & Craven. They support children and young people from 4 – 19 years of age, who are in a Special Needs school and have complex health and behavioural needs. They are a specialist team made up of admin support, health care support workers, learning disability nurses, children’s nurses and general nurses. The School Nursing Special Needs team works collaboratively with families and stakeholders to ensure they are fully involved in service development.

What we do:

• We actively seek feedback from parents and carers, and children and young people and use this feedback to influence practice.

• We complete Initial Health Assessments with the family before a child commences school to assess their health needs to ensure the child is supported to access school.

• We provide school staff and Bradford Council Short Break staff training to support children and young people accessing these services.

• We write care plans for students who require them, so students can access school and short break services. These care plans are updated yearly or sooner if there are any changes to the child’s needs.

• We offer immunisation campaigns within the Special Needs schools in Bradford & Airedale;  flu, HPV, Dip Tet, Men ACWY and MMR.

• We offer regular immunisation preparation and desensitisation work for all the children and young people within our schools. This supports our children and young people in accessing their immunisations to keep them healthy.

• We run Health Promotion sessions within the school setting including: Sun Safety, Health Eating, Accident Prevention and Hand Hygiene.

• We provide “drop-in” clinics for school staff who require advice for medication administration and enteral feeding.

• We facilitate clinics in schools for Paediatricians, Children and Adolescent Mental Health services (CAMHS) and dietitians, so that children don’t have to miss time at school.

• We support families with toilet training advice and continence assessments.

• We support families with sleep advice for their child.

• We work seamlessly with other health professionals to ensure that the health needs of our children and young people are met.

• Where possible, we attend parents’ evenings and coffee mornings in the school setting, and we would be happy to discuss any concerns with you.

How to refer:

All children attending special needs schools in Bradford, Airedale & Craven will have access to the School Nursing Special Needs service. We will become involved with your child or young person when they are accepted on the roll of school and we will meet with you to discuss your health needs.
If school or yourselves need any additional support, please contact the team or your child's school can complete a referral form, with your consent and we will get in touch with you.
Care pathways include:

• Entry into school

• Assessment

• Care planning

• Review health needs

• Discharge /Transition Planning.

Wherever possible we will aim to meet your communication, access, & information needs as per the accessible information standard. Please inform the team of your, accessibility & / or accessibility to information requirements.

Our working hours are Monday to Friday 8.00am – 4.00pm all year round (except Bank Holidays). You can also contact us through your child’s school.