Local Offer - Health - Everything Else

You can find lots of health services, including doctors, dentists, etc. on the NHS website.

All Doncaster families with a child under five years have access to a Health Visiting Team consisting of Health Visitors, Nursery Nurses, Health Promotion Practitioners and infant feeding specialists. We provide expert health assessments, advice, support and interventions for babies, children and families. Health visiting staff have extensive knowledge about child development and child health, parenting strategies and maternal mood and we work in partnership with your local Family Hub to offer early support, focused around your families specific needs.

Amongst other things the Health Visiting Team provide:

• Antenatal visits
• Birth visits
• 6 to 8 week contact
• Developmental checks
• Healthy Child Programme
• Breast feeding support

Midwives refer to the Health Visiting Service during pregnancy and you can also refer yourself to the service if your child is under 5 years of age.

Our aim is to protect and promote the health and wellbeing of children under five and their families, by encouraging  and supporting  parents and carers to develop life-long skills which enable them to make informed choices that affect their family’s future health and wellbeing.

Zone 5-19, previously known as the School Nursing Service, work with schools, other education providers and partners within the local community, to protect, support and promote the health and wellbeing of children and young people of school age, and those who care for them.  The type of support our school nursing teams offer includes:

• Providing you with health advice and support - either at home, school or a place of your choice. In addition we offer a virtual e-clinic for young people aged 11 years+ and a ParentPlus e-clinic so parents/carers can contact the service too 
• We also have a website where you can access health information and ask to see a School Nurse: Zone 5 to 19 – Doncaster Health and Wellbeing Service
• Encouraging and enabling you to adopt a healthy lifestyle through safe, well informed decision making, promoting health and wellbeing and to protect you against disease.
• Assessing the mental and emotional health needs of children and young people and providing advice and referring to specialist services as required.
• Promoting your confidence, self-esteem and mental health well-being.
• Providing information on a range of physical health related issues such as diet and healthy eating, bullying, stopping smoking, sexual health and contraception, special needs and emotional or behavioural problems.
• Providing support for young carers.
• Encouraging an open and inclusive response to children and young people who are LGBTQ+
• Working with families and schools to deliver the National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP) and vision and hearing screening.
• Safeguarding children and vulnerable families.
• Assessing your individual health needs, offering health advice and making referrals to other services if necessary.
• Training and support to school staff so that they can help children and young people who may need medication during the school day such as Asthma inhalers and Epipens or children who may need to have a personalised care plan in school to safely manage their health needs.
• Planning, developing and delivering public health programmes relevant to the needs of children and families aiming for Doncaster to be the healthiest city for children and young people to grow and develop with a thriving community.

Please visit the RDAaSH website for further information on school age immunisations.

The Zone 5-19 referral form can be found on the SEND Toolkit.

Everyone should be registered with their local GP service. If you don't have a GP, you can find your nearest one on the NHS website.

Everyone needs to see a dentist, even if your mouth doesn’t hurt or you don’t have any teeth. Having regular check ups are an important part of taking care of your oral hygiene. Most children and young people will be able to access their general NHS dental services. You can use the NHS website to find a dentist, if you don't have one.

Free NHS sight tests are available for children under 16 and for young people under 19 in full-time education. They are also available to adults who receive certain benefits or meet the eligibility criteria.

All children and young people should have regular eye tests to ensure their eyes are working correctly, and detect and manage any problems when they arise. If you are worried that there may be a problem with your child's vision, you can arrange for a free NHS eye test at your local opticians. Children do not need to know how to read to have an eye test.

There are a number of hospitals and clinics in Doncaster that you can access for particular health needs.

The Sleep Charity understand how difficult life can be when your child has a sleep issue. They aim to support families to get a better night’s sleep by offering workshops, clinics and written materials. They use a behavioural approach to sleep and work in partnership with families as they know that you are the expert on your child.

The Sleep Charity provide 1:1 support for parents and carers whose children are experiencing sleep difficulties.

The Healthy Learning, Healthy Lives programme helps schools and settings to ensure that children remain healthy. The Healthy Schools website contains free resources, information and useful contacts for teachers, professionals and families of children aged 2 to 18 years.

NHS 111 provides medical help and advice in non-emergency situations. It is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. In addition to the telephone service, there is also an online service which can be accessed at anytime, for anybody aged 5+ years. Find out more about when to use NHS 111 online or call 111.

Everyone needs to see a dentist, even if your mouth doesn’t hurt or you don’t have any teeth. Most children and young people with SEND will be able to access regular NHS general dental services along with the rest of their family. Use the NHS website to find a dentist, if you don't have one.

However, children with greater or more complex needs may need to be referred to the Community Dental Services for their care. 

The aim of the Community Dental Services is to provide dental care for those from vulnerable groups whose needs may not be accommodated in NHS general dental services or may require consultant/specialist led care due to the complex dental needs.

Who may be referred to the Community Dental Services?

Children may be referred to the Community Dental Services if they have:

• a moderate or severe chronic mental health condition
• moderate or severe behavioural problems
• a moderate, severe or profound and multiple learning difficulty
• a moderate or severe physical and/or communication disability
• complex medical conditions
• other additional needs such as substance misuse.

Who can refer a child to the Community Dental Services?

The Community Dental Services would accept children into the service following a referral. Referrals are accepted from general dental practitioners and other health professionals for example: GPs, health visitors, social workers, carers, school nurses, paediatricians.

What happens after a referral is made?

Once a child has been referred to the Community Dental Service, they would then carry out a dental assessment and treatment as required. Children who have been referred to the Community Dental Service will usually continue accessing their ongoing dental care through this service. However, some children may only need to see the Community Dental Services for a course of treatment to get them dentally fit. After this, children can see a general dental practitioner for their regular check-ups. 

The Children's Long Term Conditions Team provide specialist nursing support for children and young people (0-19) and families in the home, school and other community settings. The team, include specialist nurses who support with the management of Diabetes, Epilepsy, TB, and continence problems.

The Children's Continence Service offer advice, assessment and support to children aged 4 years to 19 years with continence issues (bladder and/or bowel problems). Children must be registered with a GP in Doncaster to access this service.

Once you have referred your child into the service, you will be sent some documents to complete, when the documents are completed and sent back to the team your referral will then be processed.

If your child attends a special school, the first point of contact should be the school's school nurse who can then refer your child into the continence service if they are unable to support. 

If a young person continues to require support from the Continence Service, their care will be transferred to the Specialist Continence Service. Transition will start from age 17 years and 9 months for young people who have complex health needs, or 17 years and 11 months for those that don't. 

The Children's Epilepsy Service support children and young people aged 0-19 years who have epilepsy. The Children's Epilepsy Service is part of the Community Long Term Conditions Team. 

Once a young person reaches 19 years old, their care will be transferred to the Specialist Adult Epilepsy Nursing Service. This service also works with adults aged 18+ years, for new referrals.

Both the children and adult epilepsy services provide support to people with epilepsy. This includes regular check ups to review and assess the person's condition which may also include reviewing medication.

The Children’s Diabetes Team provide care for children and young people, aged 0-16 years, who have been diagnosed with diabetes. The service is part of the Long Term Conditions Team. 

If a child turns 16 whilst they are accessing the Children's Diabetes Team, they will keep accessing the Children's Service until around their 19th birthday. After this, the young person will be transferred to a Young Adults Diabetes Service.

Young people who are diagnosed with diabetes from the age of 16 will be referred to the Young Adult Diabetes Team and will remain with them until 24 years of age.

The Paediatric team are Registered Dietitians who provide dietary advice to children aged 0-16 years old with nutritional problems and their families across Doncaster and Bassetlaw. Paediatric Dietitians are specially trained to enable specialist nutritional care to be provided to infants, children and adolescents to promote optimal growth. Interpreting the complexities of disease management into practical and understandable dietary treatment for clients and families to follow on a day to day basis. 

Dietitian’s work alongside Paediatricians, Community Children’s Nurses, Health Visitors, School Nurses, Child Development Centres, Speech and Language Therapists and any other staff who may be involved in the care of children.

The service covers most areas of paediatrics, including:

• Enteral feeding
• Faltering growth/Nutritional support
• Cow’s Milk Protein Allergy
• Allergies
• Coeliac disease
• IBS/FODMAPs

Dietetic care is delivered on both of the hospital sites, Bassetlaw District General and Doncaster Royal Infirmary in both inpatients and outpatient areas. Children and young people who have a feeding tubes are seen on site, in their educational placement or at home.

For children and young people with complex medical issues, it is common for the dietitian to be present in their appointment with the paediatrician.

The service does not provide support for:

• Weight management
• Fussy eating in the absence of faltering growth
• Children with a diagnosis of avoidance restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID)

In Doncaster, palliative care is offered by Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice. Bluebell Wood offers care and support to children with a shortened life expectancy, both in their own homes and at their hospice in North Anston. Bluebell Wood is a place filled with laughter and love. We give families the chance to relax, take a break and have fun, and we help support the whole family.

Children and young people can receive care from the service until they reach 25 years old, but new referrals can only be made up to a young person's 19th birthday. 

We accept new referrals up to the 19th birthday but can offer care to young people until age 25. 

The Children's Specialist Nursing Service support and advise schools on how to best meet the health needs of their pupils and input in to Education, Health and Care Plans. The Children’s Community Nursing Services provide a wide range of care from dressing a wound to advanced clinical practice and parental training. Referrals are taken from a variety of sources, including self-referral in some instances, and they have close working relationships with local hospitals, GP’s and schools.

The Specialist School Nursing team provides services to special schoolsinDoncaster, including:

• Heatherwood school
• Stone Hill school
• Pennine View school
• Northridge school
• Coppice school
• Bader school
• The Bridge

They offer advice, support, and appropriate treatment based on assessments.