Nursing services
Barnet Special School Nursing Service
The Special School Nursing Team aim to provide a service to support, care and encourage attendance for pupils with complex medical health needs aged 5-19. We work closely with other healthcare professionals to care for pupils with complex medical conditions. The Special School Nurse has a central management role in the implementation of the school health services program for all children and young people in the school. Due to the complex needs of the children on our caseload, Special School Nurses are based at Oakleigh and Mapledown School, but provide an outreach service to both Oak Lodge & Northway Special Schools and Acorn Pre-School Assessment Centre in Barnet. As part of our role we provide the following:
- Developmental Checks –monitoring height and weight.
- Continence management and advice
- Health Promotion
- Health Interviews
- Support to parents and teachers in managing medical conditions and we provide training and support to teachers and teaching assistants on specific health conditions.
The team have experience in caring for children & young people with many complex medical conditions, including:
- Enteral Feeding – gastrostomy or jejunostomy
- Rare medical conditions
- Cerebral Palsy
- Learning Disability
- Metabolic Disorders
- Safeguarding children and young people
As a Special School Nursing Team we work closely with education, social care and other partner agencies. We will approach parents and young people for consent to share appropriate health information as required with other agencies in order to provide the best care for children in school. If parents do not agree to information sharing this may impact on the nurses’ ability to carry out their work e.g. continence assessments, referrals to dieticians and dentists etc.If you have any concerns relating to consent please do not hesitate to contact the team and we will be happy to explain things in more detail. However, if your child is seriously ill we will see them because we have a duty of care to do so without first gaining consent. School Nurses do not provide First Aid but the schools employ their own qualified First Aiders.
For further information please see: Department of Health. Reference guide to consent for examination or Treatment.
Children and Young Peoples Specialist Nursing Team
The service we provide
The Children and Young People's Continuing Care Team offer support in the form of respite care and/or continuing care packages to children and young people with complex disabilities and health needs.
Special School Nurses provide care and support to children in Special schools.
Specialist Nurse for Children with Additional Health Needs works with children in a variety of settings as well as providing training to care givers. Staff working as part of the Specialist Nursing Team have the expertise to take on the lead professional (key worker role).
The Team
The team is made up of experiences children's nurses, learning disabilities nurses and health care assistants.
- Complex Care Nurses work with children 0-19 years with continuing care or complex needs.
- Special Schools Nurses work with children 2-19 years in the Borough's four Special Schools and two nurseries.
- Additional Health Needs Nurse works with children 0-19 in mainstream settings.
Health care assistants (HCA), who are trained on the National Apprenticeship or Nurse Associate training schemes, deliver much of the direct care. They work both in the child / young persons home and in a community setting - for example shcools and the voluntary sector.
Annual health check
People aged 14 and over who have been assessed as having moderate, severe or profound learning disabilities, or people with a mild learning disability who have other complex health needs, are entitled to a free annual health check. Ask your GP.