Delivery of the Healthy Child Programme in Leicestershire from 1 April 2020

Healthy Together is the Healthy Child Programme which oversees health visiting and school nursing across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.

The Healthy Child Programme is provided by Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust (LPT) who have delivered 0-19 services in Leicestershire since 2011. Leicestershire County Council commissioned Healthy Together in April 2017.

LPT and Leicestershire County Council are delighted to announce that from April they will continue to work together to deliver the Healthy Together service.   From April, the two organisations will be working to improve the way Healthy Together is delivered across the county to not only respond to national reductions in the public health budget, but also to feedback from service users and practitioners.

The redesigned service will offer improved quality, performance and efficiency, at a time of immense pressures.

The service has already responded to the current COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic, with health visiting and school nursing support being delivered differently. The vast majority of contacts are now provided over the phone, with face-to-face visits offered only where absolutely necessary in line with social distancing guidance to reduce the spread of the virus. All public health nursing staff will wear the appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) during visits in compliance with national infection control measures.

Public health nurses are still on hand to offer advice to parents and young people via the confidential ChatHealth secure text message service. This is available Monday – Friday 9am – 5pm, with texts responded to within 24 hours. Additional, tailored advice for families, children and young people in relation to Covid-19  is available on all LPT’s public health websites.

For the latest information, visit www.leicspart.nhs.uk/service-update