Services
Children in Care Health Service
Our nurses are all registered nurses as well as qualified health visitors or school nurses who have also had additional training around the needs of children in care.
About
Our Children in Care Health Service Team provides health support for all children and young people that are placed in the care of Gloucestershire County Council.
Our aim is to help children and young people with their physical and emotional health needs and promote healthy lifestyle choices.
Our nurses are all registered nurses as well as qualified health visitors or school nurses who have also had additional training around the needs of children in care.
We work closely with social care and the looked after children’s services including foster care services, within the local authority.
Anyone involved in supporting children in care can contact us for advice and support, including health professionals, social workers, foster carers and public health nurses.
Contacting the team
E-mail:
Telephone:
0300 4218742
01452 895245
The Permanency Medical Team
The Permanency Medical Team provides health support for all children and young people that are placed in the care of Gloucestershire County Council, whose plan may be adoption. All health reviews are undertaken by the Team to ensure the information available to the prospective adoptive parents is current and relevant to aid the decision-making process.
Our team consists of medical advisors (doctors), specialist nurses and administrators. We work closely with colleagues from within Social Care, the integrated Children in Care Physical and Mental Health Team and other paediatric health professionals at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital.
Anyone involved in supporting children in care can contact us for advice and support on adoption-related queries, including health professionals, social workers, foster carers, prospective adoptive parents and public health nurses.
Initial Permanency Medical
A referral is received from social care and an appointment is made for the medical advisor to examine the child, gather information on past and present health concerns. This information, along with parental health information, is used to complete an adoption medical report for court – as recommended within the Adoption Agency Regulations 2005.
The continuing role of the team and Review Health Assessments
Review Health Assessments (RHAs) are carried out regularly once a child or young person has had their Initial Health Assessment (IHA) and permanency medical. If the child is aged under five, we will arrange for one of the team (doctor or nurse) to complete an RHA every six months.
All other children or young people over the age of 5 receive an annual RHA, however, since the child’s permanency plan may be/ is adoption, the team will continue to completed an RHA every 6 months. If a doctor is seeing a child, this assessment is completed in a clinic in the Children’s Centre at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital. If a nurse is seeing a child, this can be a home visit timed after school hours, to meet the child and their carer to assess and identify any health needs and agree a plan to follow up as appropriate. It can also be in a clinic or a virtual appointment.
The team also completes review health assessments on children and young people placed from other local authorities, whose plan is adoption.
If the child’s permanency plan changes and adoption is no longer being considered, their care is transferred to the Children in Care Health Team’s specialist nurses.
We can refer to allied health professionals and teams such as Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service, hospital teams such as the Paediatric and School Health Teams or GP services.
For children under 5 years of age, the allocated Health Visitor remains their allocated primary care health professional.
Prospective adoptive parent’s summary meetings
Once a child’s permanency plan-adoption has been finalised by court, Family Finding is involved to find prospective adoptive parents. Once prospective adoptive parents have been identified, a referral is received from the child’s social worker to arrange a meeting between the prospective adoptive parents and the medical advisor. The purpose of this meeting to discuss the child’s health, past and present, parental health information and any health implications for the future.
A summary of this meeting is then sent to the appropriate adoption agency, Adoption West, and this is used at the adoption matching panel in order to support a decision – that the child can be placed with the prospective adoptive parents.
Prospective Adult Reports
The medical advisors provide medical reports on all prospective adult carers (adoptive parents, foster parents and special guardians) for consideration at their appropriate panels. For special guardians, this report is used at the final court hearing.
This medical report is based on self-declared medical problems and a GP formal medical, with additional information being sought by the medical advisor as necessary.
For further information, visit: School Nursing > Glos Health & Care NHS Foundation Trust (ghc.nhs.uk)
Contact us
01452 894621
AdoptionandFostering@ghc.nhs.uk
Gloucestershire Care Leavers Prescription Support Programme
In Gloucestershire, the local care system is working to ensure Care Leavers, who are not entitled to free prescriptions via the existing NHS programmes, do not need to pay for items prescribed by their GP.
If you are a Care Leaver living in Gloucestershire, or a Care Leaver from Gloucestershire now living elsewhere, you can now access free prescriptions prescribed by health services.
Accessing the Care Leavers Prescription Support Programme
If you are a Care Leaver and currently pay for your prescriptions, you can now access these for free, if:
- you are a Gloucestershire Care Leaver and eligible to receive a leaving care service OR are eligible for a leaving care service from a different Local Authority, but you now live in Gloucestershire, and
- you are aged 18-25 OR you are aged 16-17 and not in full-time time education, and
- you are not already exempt from prescription charges, as outline below.
Existing entitlement to Prescription Support
Some people are already entitled to free prescriptions through existing programmes. If you already meet any of the following criteria, you do not need to apply for this scheme as you are already entitled to access free prescriptions:
- You are aged 16 to 18 and in full-time education
- You are pregnant or have had a baby in the previous 12 months and have a valid maternity exemption certificate (MatEx)
- You have a specified medical condition and have a valid medical exemption certificate (MedEx)
- You have a continuing physical disability that prevents you going out without help from another person and have a valid medical exemption certificate (MedEx)
- You are an NHS inpatient
People with certain medical conditions can get free NHS prescriptions if they have a valid medical exemption certificate (MedEx).
Details of the eligible medical conditions can be found on the NHS website here: https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/prescriptions-and-pharmacies/who-can-get-free-prescriptions/
You are also entitled to free prescriptions if you or you partner (including civil partner) receive, or are under the age of 20 and the dependent of someone receiving:
- Income Support
- Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
- Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
- Pension Credit Guarantee Credit
- Universal Credit and meet the criteria
If any of the above applies, you do not need to complete this application and are already entitled to free prescriptions via the NHS.
How to apply
If you think that you are eligible to apply for the service, download and complete the application form: Application for Care Leaver Prescription Support – Gloucestershire and return it to the Children in Care Nursing via email to: cichealthteam@ghc.nhs.uk with subject line ‘Care Leaver Prescription Request’.
You should let your Leaving Care Worker know that you are applying to this programme as they will need to help put this in place for you following approval, they will also be able to support you with the application if needed.
What happens next?
Once your application has been received by the Children in Care Nursing Team, checks will be made to ensure that you are entitled to the scheme. If you are eligible an email will be sent to you and your Leaving Care Worker to confirm this.
If you need a one-off prescription your Leaving Care Worker will upload this to your E-wallet at the time of applying to the scheme.
If you are applying for a pre-payment prescription certificate (for either 3 or 12 months) you will be able to apply for this after eligibility has been approved. Once approved the funding will be uploaded to your E-wallet so you can buy your pre-payment prescription certificate online here: https://services.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/buy-prescription-prepayment-certificate/start. Your certificate will be sent to you via email, and you will need to keep this safe to use whenever you have a prescription to collect.
If you are not eligible for the scheme, you will be informed of the reason and further advice regarding payment for prescription and appealing the decision will be given.
You will be sent a reminder approximately one month before expiry of the certificate to renew this. If you do not reapply your certificate will not be renewed and will therefore expire. If this happens you will need to pay for any items prescribed by your GP.
If you have any questions about the Care Leaver’s Prescription Support Programme, please contact your Leaving Care Worker.
