These are services that most people will know and they are often most people’s first point of contact.
Universal services include:
- Health Visitors
- School Nurses
- GPs
- Dentists
- Opticians
- Pharmacists
- Hospitals
Here you can find information about health services in Solihull to support children and young people be well and have their health needs met.
The health services you will use is dependent on where your GP is located. If you have a Warwickshire or Birmingham GP information can be found on their area local offer pages.
Birmingham and Solihull ICB offer support to children and young people, as well as their families, who find themselves experiencing long waits to access children’s community therapy and mental health services in Solihull. Partners across Solihull have come together to ensure support for patients and their families is in place.
Health Services available to all children and young people (Universal Services)
Health Services for children and young people with SEND or additional needs (Specialist services that need a referral)
If your child has health needs that can’t be met by universal services, then they will be referred to specialist services. Speech and Language Therapy, Occupational Therapy and Community Paediatricians are examples of these.
Solihull Council Specialist Inclusion Support Service
Solihull Children’s Community Therapies offer children and young people who live in the Solihull area a wide range of therapy services for those that may be experiencing difficulties with communication, physical movement or general everyday activities, or difficulties that may indicate an Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Emotional wellbeing and mental health services (also referred to as SEMH services)
This section of our Local Offer details the wellbeing and mental health services that are available locally.
Things to do at home to help manage health and wellbeing whilst waiting for an appointment
Waiting well
Our Solihull Children’s Community Health services are continuing to experience a high volume of referrals and unfortunately that means children and young people are waiting longer than usual for their first appointment.
We understand the wait might be stressful, especially if it is preventing your child and family from carrying out day-to-day activities and that you may have concerns.
Whilst the teams are working hard to improve this and apologise for the delays there is some useful information / things you can do at home to help you manage health and wellbeing while you wait.
Personal health budgets and continuing care
Continuing Care
Continuing Care Continuing Care packages for children or young people up to 18 years is for those with highly complex health needs that cannot be met by existing services.
These health needs may be the result of a congenital condition, long-term, life-limiting or life-threatening condition, disability or a serious illness or injury.
For these children and young people, they may be offered an additional care package known as Continuing Care.
Find out more about children and young people’s continuing care and read the government’s guidance on children and young people’s continuing care.
The NHS Birmingham and Solihull is responsible for leading the process of identifying if a child or young person is eligible for continuing care assessment.
NHS Birmingham and Solihull have produced an information leaflet for parent and carers. If you require further information you can contact the contact the Children and Young People’s continuing care team at on 0121 203 3222.
Transition to Adult Continuing Healthcare provision
Continuing care packages for children and young people stops when a child or young person reaches 18 years of age.
For people over the age of 18 with severe and complex health needs, support may be provided through NHS continuing healthcare for adults. This is organised differently from continuing care for children and young people, and there is a different assessment process.
If your child or young person receives continuing care and it seems likely they will need similar support when they are an adult this should be identified in discussion with you when they reach age 14 years. At 16-17 years your young person should be referred for initial assessment for adult NHS continuing healthcare. This should again be a multi-disciplinary assessment and a decision about eligibility should be made when they are 17 years old.
Personal health budgets
If you or your child has NHS funded complex healthcare needs, you can ask the NHS for a personal health budget.
This is an amount of money from the NHS, which patients agree with their nurse to spend on their health needs. The aim is to give people more choice and control over their healthcare to increase their independence.
What to do if you are concerned about a health service you have received
If you have questions or concerns about the care you have received speak to the health professional involved or their manager in the first instance.
If your query remains unresolved you can contact the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS), who can provide support, advice and information to help you.
If you are worried about the care you have received, you can make a complaint.
Make an enquiry of complaint
Enquiries are dealt with by the organisation that employs the health professional.
Health visiting and school nursing services
Children and Young People community health services
University Hospitals Birmingham; Community Paediatrics, Speech and Language Therapy, Physiotherapy, hospitals etc.
SOLAR
Healthwatch Solihull
Healthwatch Solihull is the local champion for health and social care. They are independent and are not part of NHS or care services.
They:
- answer questions about local NHS and care services
- link to the Independent Complaints Advocacy Service (ICAS), supporting those making a complaint about NHS services
- gather information about what people think about NHS and care services to influence the planning and delivery of services
Contact Healthwatch Solihull
- Telephone: 0808 196 3912
- Email: enquiries@healthwatchsolihull.org.uk
Healthwatch Solihull Enterprise Centre
1 Hedingham Grove
Chelmunds Cross
Chelmsley Wood
Solihull
37 7TP
Health - Who is involved?
Health services can be confusing and there are a number of different services and agencies involved.
Our Health services for children in Solihull chart shows health services and agencies involved in providing care for children and young people in Solihull.
Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care Board (formerly CCG)
SEND is a priority within the Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care Board (ICB) in the following ways:
- ICBs must consider how they will meet the needs of children and young people aged 0 to 25 and set this out in their Forward Plans
- ICBs must consider how to ensure a diverse skill mix of leadership, which should include a consideration of whether there is knowledge and expertise related to children and to SEND
- Each ICB must have an Executive Lead responsible for SEND and accountable for how well SEND support by partners is delivered. ICBs have to work with children’s system leaders, children and young people and families when forming their strategies and have to show how they have met their statutory responsibilities relating to SEND in their annual report.
The ICS Briefing provides a detailed summary of what the ICS means for children and families with SEND.
If you would like further information please visit Caring about healthier lives: Birmingham and Solihull ICS.
Dates of upcoming NHS Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care Board meetings can be found here. These meetings are open to the public.
The Designated Clinical / Medical Officer Team
The Solihull Designate Medical and Clinical Officers (DMO/DCOs) support the Health Integrated Care System to ensure they meet their responsibilities under the SEND Code of Practice (2015). DCOs and DMOs are typically health care professionals e.g. Speech and Language Therapies, Community Paediatricians or GPs.
They work with their education, social care and expert by experience colleagues with a focus on improving the quality of experience of health support for children and young people who have SEND support needs.
Cross Border Principles
Some families live on the border between Solihull and Birmingham and can experience difficulties accessing health services because they can be slightly different depending on the area.
Birmingham and Solihull ICB has worked with parent-carers and health partners across Birmingham and Solihull to develop principles to apply in these situations as a move towards a more borderless system.
Learning Disability - Annual Health Checks
All young people and adults from the age of 14 years with a learning disability (LD) should have a health check every year by their GP.
It is essential to ensure that the GP has all the children and young people’s names on their LD register so that families can be called for appointments for the annual LD health check. Unless a young person’s learning disability status is registered on the GP systems then reasonable adjustments to care for that individual cannot be anticipated and made.
Regular health checks can detect treatable illnesses and help prevent more serious ones, as well as familiarising the young person with the GP practice. which they may use throughout their adult life.
Reasonable adjustments
The Vulnerabilities Team at University Hospitals Birmingham
The team consists of Learning Disability, Mental Health and General Nurses; the Vulnerabilities Team supports Children, young people and Adults with Learning Disabilities and/or Autism.
The team act as a point of contact through face to face or virtual support, when utilising services as either an inpatient or Outpatient at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Heartlands Hospital, Good Hope Hospital and Solihull Hospital.
The team accept referrals from families, carers, person with parental responsibility and community teams for advice and support for planned admissions or emergency admissions with a focus on improving the quality of the experience at UHB.
The team encourage the use of the Hospital Passport which tells staff at the hospital about your healthcare, your disability, how you like to communicate and how to make things easier for you - such as reasonable adjustments. The Team will also ensure that you are Digitally Flagged so staff know about your Disability and it will also alert the team to any future admissions so that we can provide support.
The team can be contacted Monday to Friday via the advice line 07768926651 or via e-mail vulnerabilities@uhb.nhs.uk.
Birmingham Children’s Hospital - Learning Disability Team
If your child has a learning disability and you are concerned about their stay in hospital, the Learning Disability Team can try and help.
The team can be contacted on 0121 333 8048.
If your child has a learning disability passport, please bring it to hospital with you. Additional information about reasonable adjustments.