On Tuesday 16 January 2024, we delivered a Winter Illness webinar which aimed to refresh practitioners’ knowledge and to share the wide range of resources that we have available to help you support babies, children & families this winter.

The following updates were provided from partner organisations during the webinar:

  • Healthier Together provided an update from a Lead Paediatrician on the current winter illness context
  • Bliss Charity shared resources on recognition of illness in babies with Black and Brown skin
  • Barnardo’s discussed damp and mould and the impact this has on respiratory health

Babies under one year of age have the highest Emergency Department (ED) attendance rate, as highlighted in our recent report ‘Understanding the rise in 0-4-year-old Emergency Department (ED) attendances and changing health visiting practice‘. Respiratory illnesses represent 3 of the top 5 reasons for ED attendance and include: upper respiratory tract infections, tonsilitis and bronchiolitis. The report also highlighted that 59% of A&E attendees did not need investigations, treatment, or hospital admission, and were sent home after reassurance.

With this in mind, it is important for health visitors and other healthcare professionals to have knowledge and understanding of current respiratory illnesses, the signs and symptoms, and advice to be able to offer parents to help enable them to look after their children at home and know when to seek further help and support.

Over the last 3 years the iHV has been working closely with NHSE, Barnardo’s, Bliss, Contact and Healthier Together to create resources for parents and healthcare professionals about a variety of winter illnesses, which include:

  • Bronchiolitis and RSV
  • Croup
  • Difficulty breathing and wheeze
  • Fever, and fever under 3-months
  • Breathing difficulties in babies under 3-months
  • Strep A and Scarlet Fever
  • Flu

The related resources come in a range of formats – from e-learning and webinars for healthcare professionals/practitioners, to resources for parents including “When to worry” written resources, plus filmed and animated resources in the following languages: Bengali, Gujarati, Polish, Punjabi, Romanian, Spanish and Urdu, as well as English.

Babies under one year of age have the highest Emergency Department (ED) attendance rate, as highlighted in our recent report ‘Understanding the rise in 0-4-year-old Emergency Department (ED) attendances and changing health visiting practice‘. Respiratory illnesses represent 3 of the top 5 reasons for ED attendance and include: upper respiratory tract infections, tonsilitis and bronchiolitis. The report also highlighted that 59% of A&E attendees did not need investigations, treatment, or hospital admission, and were sent home after reassurance.

With this in mind, it is important for health visitors and other healthcare professionals to have knowledge and understanding of current respiratory illnesses, the signs and symptoms, and advice to be able to offer parents to help enable them to look after their children at home and know when to seek further help and support.

Over the last 3 years the iHV has been working closely with NHSE, Barnardo’s, Bliss, Contact and Healthier Together to create resources for parents and healthcare professionals about a variety of winter illnesses, which include:

  • Bronchiolitis and RSV
  • Croup
  • Difficulty breathing and wheeze
  • Fever, and fever under 3-months
  • Breathing difficulties in babies under 3-months
  • Strep A and Scarlet Fever
  • Flu

The related resources come in a range of formats – from e-learning and webinars for healthcare professionals/practitioners, to resources for parents including “When to worry” written resources, plus filmed and animated resources in the following languages: Bengali, Gujarati, Polish, Punjabi, Romanian, Spanish and Urdu, as well as English.

Webinar

On Tuesday 16 January 2024, 15:00-16:30, we are delivering a webinar which aims to refresh practitioners’ knowledge and to share the wide range of resources that we have available in more detail. Updates will be provided from each of the partner organisations:

  • Healthier Together will provide an update from a Lead Paediatrician on the current winter illness context
  • Bliss Charity will share resources on recognition of illness in babies with Black and Brown skin
  • Barnardo’s will be discussing damp and mould and the impact this has on respiratory health

Please join us for this important learning event and refresh your knowledge.

Webinar: Practice-based resources to support babies, children & families this winter
Date: Tuesday 16 January 2024
Time: 15:00-16:30
Online

Calling all iHV members – if you missed our iHV Insights webinar on “Raising awareness of Group A Streptococcus and childhood influenza infections” last week, then don’t worry as the resources from this iHV Insights, as well as the previous ones, are available to iHV members to access as a free member benefit afterwards.

On Thursday 23 February, we covered:

  • The national picture – current rates of Strep A, Scarlet Fever, Invasive Group A Strep (IGAS), Influenzas (Flu) and rates in the UK
  • Presentation and symptoms in babies and children
  • Safety netting- supporting parents to know when to worry and where to get help
  • Sharing resources to support your practice

If you were unable to join the live event, iHV members can access the following after each iHV Insights event:

  • Recording of the live iHV Insights webinar
  • Pdf of webinar slides
  • Record of Attendance/ Reflection template for you to download and complete for each iHV Insights attended

Next iHV Insights

  • 23 March 2023 15:30-16:30 – Supporting you in practice – Current health visiting practice topics

The session will cover:

  • Co-sleeping, safer sleep and SIDS with Stella Parkin, National Lead for CONI, Lullaby Trust
  • Meeting the Health, Wellbeing and Safeguarding Needs of Families Seeking Asylum with Elaine Goodwin, Nursing and Inclusion Health Lead, NHS England
  • Keeping babies and children safe around dogs in the home with Maria Kyle, Family Engagement Manager, Intervention Development, Dogs Trust

The webinar will be recorded and will be available to iHV Members who are unable to join the live webinar on our website after the event.

Please join us. Spaces are limited so please do book early to avoid disappointment. Please use your iHV membership number to book your place.

About iHV Insights

iHV Insights are webinars run just for our members.

These live online sessions are of interest to frontline health visitors and student health visitors, as well as service leads, commissioners and wider members of the health visiting team, both in the UK and with lots of transferable learning for our international members too.

If you are not an iHV member, join us today to access these resources and many other member benefits.

We are delighted to announce our February iHV Insights webinar – Raising awareness of Group A Streptococcus and childhood influenza infections and their management in babies and children.

Thanks to specific project funding to support raising awareness of this important topic, this iHV Insights event is open to all health visitors to book.

This webinar is on Thursday 23 February (join from 3:15pm to allow a prompt start) 3:30pm to 4:30 pm.

Key topics covered
• The national picture – current rates of Strep A, Scarlet Fever, Invasive Group A Strep (IGAS) Influenzas (Flu) and rates in the UK
• Presentation and symptoms in babies and children
• Safety netting – supporting parents to know when to worry and where to get help
• Sharing resources to support your practice

Please join us – spaces are limited so please do book early to avoid disappointment.

How to book

Go to our Eventbrite booking page to book your place. If you have any problems or enquiries, please email [email protected] and we will be happy to help.

Once you have submitted your details, you will be able to select your ticket and proceed to checkout – please note that this webinar is free to all health visitors.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has published a new quality standard on increasing the uptake of flu vaccinations among people who are eligible.

The quality standard discusses the following priority areas for improvement:

  1. To use a range or combination of methods, such as phone, face-to-face, or social media communications, to invite people in eligible groups for flu vaccination. Commissioners are encouraged to review their services to make sure systems are in place to accommodate these different methods.
  2. To include information within invitations to vaccination appointments about people’s individual situation or clinical risk. This will help eligible people understand the benefits of having a flu vaccine and why getting flu could be particularly risky for them.
  3. To ensure health records are timely, accurate and consistent in order to improve the accuracy of uptake figures and reduce unnecessary invitations to those who have already had flu vaccinations.
  4. To ensure employers enable health and social care staff who are in direct contact with vulnerable people to have flu vaccinations, including allowing flexibility during shifts.

PHE has announced the beginning of the flu season.

They have asked for your support in promoting the flu vaccine – particularly for toddlers aged 2 and 3. Their latest data shows that uptake in this group is lower than the previous season due to the earlier delays of the children’s vaccine.

The delays have now been resolved. Parents should contact their GP for a free flu vaccine, which is just a quick and easy nasal spray, as soon as possible.

Flu can be horrible for little children and if they get it, they can spread it round the whole family.

Watch short videos below:

Parents of 2 and 3-year olds are urged to protect their children against flu, which can be a serious and fatal illness.

Those aged 65 and over, children and adults with underlying medical conditions and pregnant women are also urged to get their free vaccine in the next few weeks, before flu begins to circulate widely.

The primary schools-based flu vaccination programme is once again underway. This follows a temporary pause in the ordering of the nasal vaccine, which was caused by delays from the manufacturer.

Primary school clinics will be rescheduled as soon as possible and children in high risk groups should visit their GP if their school session has been delayed, to ensure that they are protected early. GPs have now been advised to call in all eligible children for vaccination by early December.

Read more here

In addition, England’s chief nursing officer has issued a new appeal to NHS staff urging them to fulfil their “duty” to get vaccinated against influenza this winter. Dr Ruth May has written an open letter to frontline nurses and other health professionals working in the health system to urge them to work together to achieve a high level of coverage this season.

Also read our guest blog from the National Infection Service, Public Health England: Help us help you this winter by getting your flu vaccination

Provides information on the flu vaccination programme 2017 to 2018 for children, the vaccine and how to administer it.

This document on the flu vaccination and vaccination programme includes information on:

  • what flu is
  • the flu vaccine
  • dosage
  • administering the vaccine
  • advice on vaccinating children with an egg allergy
  • further resources

In the 2017/18 flu season, flu vaccine should be offered to all children who are aged two to eight years old (but not nine years or older) on 31 August 2017 and to all primary school-aged children in former primary school pilot areas. It should also be offered to children from six months of age in clinical risk groups.

The key changes to the childhood flu programme in the 2017/18 flu season are that:

  • Reception Year (children aged 4-5 years) will now be offered flu vaccination in their reception class, rather than through general practice
  • Children in School Year 4 (children aged 8-9 years) will be included in the programme this year as part of the phased roll-out of the children’s programme