Health and Wellbeing, Health Notification and Access to Services
Amendment
In September 2024, this chapter was updated in line with Ofsted Guidance Social Care Common Inspection Framework (SCCIF):Supported Accommodation for Looked After Children and Care Leavers Aged 16 and 17.
The manager must ensure that each young person’s day-to-day health and well-being needs are met; that young people receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being. Young people must have access to specialist help, as required, including support for their mental health.
Staff should work to make the Service an environment that supports each young person’s physical, mental and emotional health, in line with the approach set out in the Service’s Statement of Purpose.
Staff must help each young person to:
- Achieve the health and well-being outcomes that are recorded in the relevant plans;
- Attend any appointments, for the purpose of meeting the young person’s health and well-being needs.
‘Wellbeing’ means the quality of a young person’s life. This is multi-dimensional and includes dimensions of physical, emotional and social well-being, both for the immediate and future life of the young person. It incorporates subjective measures such as happiness, perception of quality of life and life satisfaction as well as objective measures around supportive personal relationships, education and training resources and health status.
DfE and DHSC Statutory Guidance on Promoting the Health and Well-being of Looked After Children provides information about the statutory obligations and duties of local authorities and Health bodies to support and promote the health of Looked-After young people.
The responsible local authority must make sure that its Looked After young people are provided with appropriate healthcare services. The health of Looked After young people must be assessed at regular intervals and the Care Plan must include an individual health plan setting out the approach that the placing authority will follow, and the desired outcomes required to meet the young person’s health needs. See Health Care Assessments and Plans Procedure.
The specific responsibilities of the Service towards supporting the health and well-being of each young person should be agreed with the placing authority and recorded in the young person’s Placement Plan. It is the joint responsibility of the manager of the Service and the placing authority that this is agreed at the time of placement.
Staff should have sufficient understanding of relevant health services, including the functions of the designated nurse for Looked-After children in their area. They should support young people to navigate these services, advocating on their behalf where necessary and appropriate. The Service must have good links with health agencies to promote good health, be well informed about local health services such as CYPMHS and sexual health services in the area it covers, and take this into account when deciding on admissions.
Staff should encourage young people to take a proactive role in looking after their day-to-day health and wellbeing. When a young person needs additional health or wellbeing support, staff should work with the placing authority to enable proper and immediate access to any specialist medical, psychological or psychiatric support required, and challenge them if this doesn't happen. The Service may have a key role in organising and ensuring each young people attend appointments depending on the needs of the young person.
The manager must ensure that staff have the relevant skills and knowledge to be able to:
- Respond to the health needs of young people;
- Administer basic first aid and minor illness treatment if the young person cannot do it themselves.
Where appropriate, the young person’s family should be involved in supporting the young person’s health needs as well.
Staff should have the relevant skills and knowledge to be able to help young people to understand, and where necessary, work to change negative behaviours in key areas of health and well-being such as, but not limited to, nutrition and healthy diet, exercise, mental health, sexual relationships, sexual health, contraception and use of legal highs, drugs, alcohol and tobacco.
See also procedures on Drugs and Substance Misuse and Smoking and Alcohol.
The social worker must arrange for the Health Authority, in the area where a young person is placed, to be notified of the placement.
The Service should arrange for the following:
- For the young person to be allocated with Keyworker/s who will be responsible for promoting their health and educational achievement, liaising with key professionals if the young person needs support in this area, including the Clinical Nurse Specialist, the child's GP and dental practitioner. The Keyworker will also be responsible for ensuring that up to date information is kept on the young person in relation to their health needs, development, illnesses, operations, immunisations, allergies, medications, administered, dates of appointments with GP's and specialists;
- For the young person to be registered with a GP;
- For the young person to be registered with a Dentist;
- For the young person to be registered with an Optician;
- For a Health Care Assessment to be carried out in relation to the young person as set out in Health Care Assessments and Plans Procedure.
Details of the registration or any changes must be recorded, by the social worker, in the Placement Information Record, a copy of which must be forwarded to the Service by the social worker, at the latest, within 14 days of the placement.
Additionally, the young person's Medical Record should be updated.
Each young person must have access to the dental, medical, nursing, psychiatric and psychological advice, treatment and other services they require.
Young people’s health needs must be identified (including their mental and sexual health needs, as appropriate), and they must have access to local health services when they need them.
If there are any serious concerns about the emotional or mental health of a young person, the manager must alert the social worker, and seek a review of the young person’s placement and/or request an assessment under the Mental Health Act 1983.
Any strategies/services that are provided, must be outlined in the Placement Plan/Health Care Plan.
If young people appear to require or request it, appointments should be made for them to see their GP or other medical practitioners as appropriate.
When appointments are made, account should be taken of the young person’s wishes, for example, to see a practitioner of a preferred gender identity.
See: Consent and Delegation of Authority Procedure.
As appropriate, the Chronology/Referral and Information Record should be updated to take account of these appointments.
Additionally, the young person’s Medical Record should be updated.
Legislation, Statutory Guidance and Government Non-Statutory Guidance
DfE and DHSC Statutory Guidance on Promoting the Health and Well-being of Looked After Children
Last Updated: September 9, 2024
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