*Staffordshire Special Needs School Nursing Service

This service is provided by Midlands Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and supports children and young people in local authority Special Schools and Colleges across Staffordshire. Our primary aim is to support children and young people attending Special Schools, in their school environment, in order that they can play a full and active role in school life, remain healthy and achieve their academic potential.

All children, young people and families covered by the service will be offered support to enable their child to access Special Schools; this will include assessment and care planning and supporting education staff with medication administration, enteral feeding packages and respiratory packages. Advice, support and training will also be given to schools to assist with managing long term conditions such as Asthma, Diabetes and Epilepsy.

Support is also provided for Continence & , Emotional Health and Wellbeing and Behaviour with onward referral to other services as required. We work closely with other professionals such as Dieticians, Paediatricians, Physiotherapists, Speech Therapists, GPs and the wider community.

The service will also provide advice and reports for EHCP and Continuing Health Care assessments and the provision of SEND including transition planning.

The team

The team consists of nurses and health care support workers who are visibly accessible in the schools they cover to give advice and support to children, young people and their families.

We have 2 nurses who have a specialist focus on continence. They can offer support and advice on a wide range of continence issues such as containment product assessment, nocturnal enuresis and toileting.    

Contact information

Initial contact/referrals to be made to the email address below and they will be signposted to appropriate member of the service.

Specialschools.staffs@nhs.net  

Who can use the service?

It is available to all children, young people and families attending a local authority Staffordshire Special School (excluding Stoke-on-Trent). Advice and support can be given to independent special schools but there may be a cost involved.

The continence service is available to children and young people with a special educational need if they have Staffordshire GP . This includes those who attend independent special schools and special schools out of county.

How can I refer?

Referrals to the service are accepted from:

• Professionals
• Education staff 
• Self-referrals from families

What happens after referral?

Depending on the needs of the child, young person or family, we will respond as soon as we can.

Urgent referrals, including all safeguarding referrals will be made according to Staffordshire Safeguarding Board's policy.

Referrals could be dealt with by a number of methods, for example:

• A telephone call to provide information and advice 
• A face to face appointment 
• Letters

Who will we see?

There are a variety of staff roles within the service for example:

• Special School nurses
• Specialist Continence Nurses
• Clinical support workers

They work with children, young people and families via a range of methods such as:

• Face to face contact
• Telephone
• Email

What happens when I come to the service?

The service will be delivered from a setting to suit the needs of the child, young person or family.

For example at:

• Your home
• Your college, school or nursery

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