About your review health assessment 

The St Helens Children in Care team is a team of friendly nurses who want to make sure that all children and young people are healthy so that they can do their best in life, enjoy themselves and be safe and well. 

The information on this page aims to give you information about your review health assessment.

How often are review health assessments?

Review health assessments are carried out every:

• six months for children under five years of age
• 12 months from when you’re five years old up until your 18th birthday.

Your review health assessments will take place with a nurse from the St Helens Children in Care team.

Your assessment won’t be the only time you see and hear from us. We will be in more regular contact than this to review your health.

Your carer, parent, key worker, social worker or GP may ask us to visit or speak to you if they feel that you need some additional support or health and development advice.

You may also request to see us in between planned visits or before your next health assessment. All you need to do is contact the team using the details on this page.

Where the assessment will take place

The health assessment can be done somewhere you are happy with and where you feel safe. This may be at one of the local health clinics, in your placement, in your home or in the nurse’s room at school. Nobody else should know why you are going to see the nurse.

However, wherever possible, we would like to see you at home and in school so we can see your lived experience.

Who will be at the assessment?

When you come for your review health assessment you can have your carer or parent there or a social worker. If the nurse thinks you are old enough, then you could be seen on your own.

You will see one of our nurses. There are times when they may be joined by another member of the team, such as a student nurse.

What will happen at the assessment? 

Your review health assessment gives us a chance to talk to you and find out if there is any help and support you need, so you can be as healthy and well as possible.

It also gives you chance to talk to us about any health worries you might have or to ask any questions you might have. No question is silly or unimportant, so if you have a question, please don’t be too embarrassed or afraid to ask.

Things we will talk about include:

• Eating and diet
• Sleeping
• Development
• Activities, exercise and hobbies
• Emotional wellbeing (including your feelings, worries, hopes, behaviours etc)
• Illnesses, medication and allergies   
• Maintaining a healthy lifestyle
• Staying safe
• Safe and healthy relationships
• Any health goals you might have.

At the assessment, you can also have your height and weight measured.

You will not need to take your clothes off as part of your assessment.

If you’re with your carer or parent, we may also ask them some questions.

Your health plan

As part of our discussion, we will work with you to agree what gets included in your health plan. This may include information about other people and services that can help and support you with your needs or to achieve your goals.   

Confidentiality

If you want to talk to the nurse without any adults present, then let us know. It is important for you to have the opportunity to express your wishes, feelings and views; if you wish to do this without another adult present, that is okay. 

What we discuss will be treated sensitively and confidentially but if something you share with us puts your safety at risk, we will have to tell your social worker to protect you. If this happens, we will talk to you about this to let you know that this will happen and the reasons why.

Questions

If you want to ask any questions ahead of your health assessment you can call the Children in Care team. You can also ask for one of our nurses to visit you before your review health assessment if you would prefer to talk things over in person.