Issue - meetings

To receive a report from Louise Smith, Designated Nurse Children in Care.

Louise Smith, designated nurse for children in care and care leavers presented the board with the report. She explained that the report reflected the difficult year due to covid, plus the recovery plan put in place. Another discussion point was the importance of children’s voices, and they were working with participation groups to better this. One change that they were making, was how do the children want their health assessments delivered in the future. Would they want virtual or face-face? The board was also informed of the number of care leavers rising, and there was work in progress to transform the care leaver role. They were also wanting a more transitional role into adulthood for 17-18-year olds.

The Corporate Parenting Board was also informed of the progress made with dental care. Children within the care system were now prioritised and there was a robust escalation process in place if any complications arose.

Members asked the following questions relating to the following:

·       The report was welcomed by the board and was praised for the hard work that has gone into it.

·       Do all children in care have an EHCP? It was suggested to add more information regarding speech and language therapists within the report. It would be useful to see what percentage of children in care had this.

·       Vaccination approval, who would need to give this? The board was advised that a process was needed for this and a meeting had been set up to discuss this matter. Due to it not being a routine vaccine, officers would need to make sure that either the authority or parental consent was given.

·       Key performance indicators were around referrals with health assessments. Additional needs would be referred to either the GP or other professional services around eating disorders or dietitian services. Training and support was also offered to foster carers around healthy eating.

·       Suggestion to speak about religious and spiritual requirements on future agendas to ensure the needs of all children were covered.

·       Procedures with disputes with vaccinations- A strong vaccination team within Dorset health care and it will be parental choice. Considering the capacity of children, it was early days but there would be conversations around the procedure for this.