Most children are brought up in their own families, but in Warrington as in other areas a small number of children need to live away from their families and grow up in a range of alternative care arrangements that include foster care, residential care and supported independent living.
These children are described as being ‘in care’ and are the responsibility of the local authority.
At any one time there are approximately 300-400 children in care in Warrington.
The Children in Care Health Team is responsible for ensuring that the health needs of these children are addressed and that statutory requirements are met.
We are a team consisting of a community paeditrician, specialist nurses and admin support who are committed to improving the health outcomes for Children in Care in Warrington.
The team strive to deliver a supportive, informative and highly effective service to address and meet the health needs of Children in Care within Warrington.
What we do
- Assess, plan, implement and evaluate healthcare, formulating a health care plan for school aged children in care accommodated by Warrington Local Authority and those living in Warrington placed by other authorities.
- Providing staff training on how to complete robust and effective statutory health assessments
- Delivering effective health promotion to vulnerable young people
- Adopting a holistic approach to each individuals needs
- Assess the emotional wellbeing of Children in Care using evidence based tools such as ‘Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaires’, ensuring assessment is thorough and timely referrals into relevant services are made
- Supporting and advising foster carers to improve health needs of Children in Care; includes facilitating regular foster carer training on health related topics such as ‘Be Healthy’, ‘Teenage health’ and ‘Medicines Management’.
- Attending and contributing to multi-agency meetings to ensure the health needs of Children in Care are met to a high standard
- Creating and maintaining an up to date health data of young people placed in Warrington
We are a 9-5 service and very much welcome telephone/email queries from carers and professionals working with Children in Care regarding their health.
You may have a question about medication, diet, lifestyle, and minor illnesses, referrals into health services, puberty, sexual health, emotional well-being, allergies or immunisations.
This list is not exhaustive so please contact us to discuss your health related query for Children in Care.
Team members
Dr. Natalia Bell
Speciality Doctor
Cathy McGinn
Named Nurse for safeguarding children and Children in Care
Liza Bishop
Named Nurse for Children and Young People in Care
Jane Gore, Lucy Roberts, Tamara Holliday
Specialist nurses
Johanna Hyland and Terri Huggins
Admin
Contact details
The Health Team are based at:
The Child Development Centre
Sandy Lane
Orford
Warrington
WA2 9HY
Telephone: 01925 946484
Secure email: ALWCH.warringtoncicteam@nhs.net