Management Information Sheet

We want to thank you for taking the time to tell us what you think of the School Nursing Service and give you an update on our plans to procure a new service to start in October 2015.

What do school staff think about the School Nursing Service?

Last June we asked school staff to complete an online survey about school nursing. Over 120 people responded to our survey, including headteachers, deputy headteachers, class teachers, teaching assistants, SENCos and teachers with responsibility for pastoral care.

The people completing the survey told us:

• 38% did not know which organisation provides the School Nursing Service for their school.
• 40% found it easy to contact the School Nursing Service, whilst 35% found it difficult.
• 43% were satisfied with the School Nursing Service, whilst 32% were dissatisfied.

You told us about some very positive experiences of the service. We asked you what would improve the School Nursing Service and health services for young people, and a number of suggestions were repeatedly made:

• More school nurses to enable them to develop a stronger relationship with the schools and young people they work with, make them easier to contact and more accessible.
• Greater consistency of staff - it is easier for schools and young people if the school nurse doesn't change often.
• Create a more visible service and provide better information for young people, parents/carers and schools about the services offered by the School Nursing Service. Each school / cluster should have a named school nurse.
• More drop-in sessions for high school students.
• Easier access to other services, particularly mental health services.
• Earlier intervention and help for children at primary school to make a successful transition to secondary school.
• School nurses don't need to provide a wide range of services, but they should be there to listen to young people and signpost them to other services. Schools receive health support from a range of sources, not just school nurses.
• More awareness raising and preventative work by the School Nursing Service and schools around topics such as smoking, drugs and hygiene. This includes support for PSHE lessons.

What do children and young people think about school nurses?

The majority of children and young people we have spoken to, as well as their parents/carers, have similarly told us that they don't know if their school has a nurse, what school nurses do or how to contact them. However, young people that have seen their school nurse have generally been positive about their experiences. Young people would support greater involvement from the School Nursing Service in delivering key health messages, as well as PSHE and sex education lessons.

What have we done with your feedback?

As part of its new Public Health role, Norfolk County Council is responsible for commissioning the public health services for children and young people aged 5 to 19 years old and ensuring that the Healthy Child Programme (which includes the School Nursing Service) is delivered to support their needs.

We are beginning the process to procure a new School Nursing Service, which we aim to launch in October 2015. The service will launch in October, rather than at the beginning of the term in September, because we will also be re-commissioning the Health Visitor Service at the same time. We want to make sure that there is a good transition for families between health visitors and school nurses. The current contractual arrangements and the procurement timescales mean that the earliest the new service can be put in place is October 2015.

Your feedback on the current service is helping us to write the specification for the new contract. We want to make sure that the new service takes account of the concerns that you have raised with us. We will keep you updated on our progress with the procurement and give you an opportunity to comment on the draft specification in September 2014.

Tell us what you think

We have re-opened our school survey until the end of term in case you were not able to complete it last June. To tell us what you think, please click here by 31 July 2014.

Thank you,

Sarah Barnes
NCC Public Health Commissioning Manager for Children and Young People