Huge boost to Suffolk pupils as extra nurses recruited to the school nursing service

Pupils throughout Suffolk are to get better access to the school nursing service following a substantial investment which has seen 28 extra staff recruited across the county.

Suffolk Community Healthcare (SCH) has increased the size of its school nursing team from 13.77 full time equivalents to 36.09 full time equivalents after NHS Suffolk invested an additional £705,000 into the service. In total, this equates to 44 staff covering 33 mainstream schools and seven special schools.

All of the new staff have now been appointed. Once they have completed their induction and in-service training, a range of services will be offered in schools across the county, including regular drop-in sessions for young people in middle and high schools and similar sessions for the parents of primary school children.

The team will also work with colleagues in education and other agencies to provide personal health and social education (PHSE) and sex and relationship education (SRE). In addition, children and young people will also be able to access support and advice on a variety of other issues, such as healthy eating, stopping smoking, relationships, bullying, drugs and alcohol.

Julia Bilotta, service manager for health visiting and school nursing services at SCH, said: “This additional investment from NHS Suffolk has significantly improved to the service we are able to offer young people across the county.

“The extra staff will play an important role by offering children and young people impartial, non-judgmental advice and help on a range of different issues. We’ll also be concentrating on a number of important health promotion initiatives, such as reducing teenage pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections, enhancing emotional health and wellbeing and tackling obesity and smoking.

“The nurses will be available to discuss any issues which may be worrying the young people. If they are unable to offer appropriate support themselves, they will be able to signpost them to other agencies who will be able to help.”

In addition to nursing services for older pupils, the team also employs 10.9 full time equivalent child health advisors, who are qualified to work with younger children within primary schools. They are also responsible for carrying out the national child measurement programme, which helps keep parents informed as to whether their child is a healthy weight.

Elaine Aylott, children’s commissioning and development manager at NHS Suffolk, said: “This is a vital investment in staff to work in and with schools. The school nursing team is now able to offer advice and support to individual children and young people on a wide range of personal and public health issues which might otherwise cause serious and long-term difficulties in their lives.”

Karen Webb from the Royal College of Nursing, said: “The RCN has been calling for extra funding and support for school nurses for some time and we therefore welcome this recruitment drive as a step in the right direction.

“School nurses are an invaluable resource for all children and their families, but particularly for vulnerable children to whom school nurses can sometimes be their first and only port of call. Greater investment in specialist services such as school nurses can help detect child abuse and help tackle public health problems such as obesity, underage drinking, drug abuse and teenage pregnancy early on, reducing the need for interventions at a later stage. We look forward to working closely with the trust to see more positive outcomes from this initiative”.

Suffolk Community Healthcare is responsible for providing services in the Suffolk area, excluding Waveney, and is hosted by NHS Suffolk, the county’s primary care trust.

The Royal College of Nursing is the voice of nursing across the UK and is the largest professional union of nursing staff in the world. The RCN promotes the interests of nurses and patients on a wide range of issues and helps shape healthcare policy by working closely with the UK Government and other national and international institutions, trade unions, professional bodies and voluntary organisations. For more information, visit www.rcn.org.uk