Childhood injuries (health and wellbeing needs in South Tyneside)

What we currently provide in South Tyneside to reduce injuries

• Road Safety Team
  • A comprehensive program of prevention is offered to a high proportion of Primary schools covering safe walking and cycling to school . All Year 6 children are invited to the 'Reducing Accidents at Play' workshop which covers water, fire, gas, road, and electrical safety.
• Trading Standards Team
  • Implementing preventative campaigns and enforcement with regards to high risk products such as dishwasher tablets or lithium batteries.
• School Crossing Patrol
  • School crossing patrols operate in busy areas to support children crossing busy roads when travelling to and from school.
• St Johns Ambulance
  • They refer schools to Safety Works- a project in Newcastle that educates around childhood injuries
• Health Visiting Service
  • Health visitor's work with children and their families until the child is five. As part of the mandated contacts a Health Visitor can offer advice and guidance about home safety. After three attendances at A&E a health visitor home visit is triggered. Health visitors offer a home safety check and give advice about safety equipment
• Children Centres
  • Children Centres offer support to parents with a child under 5 they offer home safety advice as part of their home visits.
• School Nursing
  • Similar to home visiting- 3+ visits trigger targeted support to a family.
• Family Nurse Partnership
  • The Family Nurse Partnership (FNP) is a voluntary home visiting programme for first time young mums, aged 19 years or under. A specially trained family nurse visits the young mum regularly, from the early stages of pregnancy until their child is two.
• Schools
  • As part of the Healthy Schools programme schools are asked to deliver comprehensive programmes of Personal, Health & Social education (PHSE) which covers safety & risk taking.
• Children's Social Care
  • Due to the acute nature of statutory Children's Social Care- social workers would not proactively undertake accident prevention work unless this was part of the reason for social care referral or was identified as part of an assessment. Children's social cares have a role in protecting children from intentional injuries or injuries as a result of neglect.
• Early Help Team
  • Early Help is a family-orientated intervention that works closely with families to provide the right support at the right time. Early Help outreach workers would offer help & advice about parenting and safety.
• Safestop
  • SafeStop is an initiative working collaboratively with Police across South Tyneside to identify vulnerable young people and take them to an identified safe place where a brief screening is undertaken to determine if further intervention is required. By intervening early especially where alcohol may be a factor then children are prevented from taking further risks.
• Midwifery
  • Midwives give care and support to pregnant women and their babies, before, during and after childbirth. As part of their routine appointments midwives offer safety advice about preventing SIDS and safe sleep. They also advise about animal safety, especially dogs in the household, car seat use, feeding and general infant safety.
• The Matrix Young Persons Drug & Alcohol Service.
  • The MATRIX works with young people under 18 in South Tyneside, their families and carers. The service provides help, support and advice to those whose lives have been affected by drug and alcohol misuse. This package of support includes information around harm minimisation.
• South Tyneside Lifecycle Primary Care Mental Health Service
  • A tier two emotional health service which provides information and support for young people to minimise their risk in relation to self-harm.
• Emotional Resilience Group
  • A group of professionals who meet quarterly to work on an action plan aimed at improved emotional resilience in young people who live in South Tyneside.
• South Tyneside Mental Health Champions
  • A termly meeting of staff who work with young people aimed at upskilling staff to identify and respond to young people's emotional health.