Healthcare team

If you need a district nurse please phone 01202 443 880.

The district nurses work Monday to Friday between 8:30am to 5pm. If the district nurses are not available when you call, there is an answerphone facility where you can leave a message. Messages will be checked periodically throughout the day. In the case of an emergency, please phone your usual surgery, the receptionist will contact one of the nurses directly on your behalf.

If you require a district nurse outside of normal surgery hours, or at weekends or bank holidays, please phone 111 or For urgent out of hours requests, 5pm to 8am on weekdays, weekends and bank holidays, please phone 0300 369 0530.

Our district nursing teams visit housebound patients with nursing needs as well as patients recently discharged from hospital. District nurses are highly skilled registered nurses who have undertaken a specialist qualification in community nursing.

The district nursing team includes registered community staff nurses who can provide skilled, complex nursing care and community healthcare assistants who support registered nurses with specific aspects of nursing care. Registered nurses have a responsibility for training and planning learning experiences for student nurses. Student nurses may accompany staff on their visits and participate in nursing care.

Response times

The district nursing service has an agreed variety of response times. They are not an
emergency service but will respond within the following time frames:

• urgent: within two to four hours e.g. symptom control, blocked catheter
• non-urgent: usually within 24 hours e.g. by-passing catheters, constipation, wound management
• planned: routine visits e.g. changing dressings, hospital discharges, continence

Eligibility for home nursing

Home nursing will be provided to patients who are housebound, that is; those who require medical transport to enable them to leave their home. We also visit patients where either their diagnosis or the nursing procedure means that home is the best place for the care to take place.

Access to home nursing

Access can be via our supporting services and acute hospitals. Self referral and requests from family, friends and carers can be made, and will be assessed for appropriateness. The patient, where able, must give permission before they are referred.

Your responsibilities

Please let the nursing team know if you are not going to be available when your visit is due. It remains your responsibility to ensure that dressings and medications are available for the home visit. Please ensure that you provide liquid soap and a clean towel/paper towel or kitchen roll for hand washing. We expect all staff to be treated with courtesy and respect at all times. We ask that patients or others in the home do not smoke during the nurse’s visit and that any pets be secured away from the area of care before the nurse arrives.

Your personalised nursing care

You will be asked for consent to share information with your GP, specialist nurse or others who support your health and social needs. All your confidential information will be kept securely and only essential information shared. The team will undertake an holistic assessment of your health needs. This may mean referral to a more appropriate service if required.

A basic folder outlining nursing care plans will be left in your home and can be shared with other people or agencies who visit you to support your health needs. The nurses will aim to actively involve you or your significant others in the nursing care that is planned following assessment. The nurse will consider your preferences within the constraints of available resources.

The nursing team will aim to work with you and your significant others to maximise your independence. This may include signposting you to other services to meet your needs. The nurses will provide your planned care, support, information and advice to minimise complications associated with any health problems that you have. We aim to put you at the centre of what we do to ensure that you have a say in your care.

Contact the team

The service is not an emergency service and you may be required to leave a message on an answer phone and a member of the team would get back to you.

Who are health visitors and what do they do?

The health visiting service works with children and their families to promote health and wellbeing from the antenatal period up until five years of age.

Health visitors can provide advice and support on a range of health matters including:

• Transition to parenthood and early weeks maternal mental health (perinatal depression)
• Breastfeeding
• Healthy weight, healthy nutrition and physical activity
• Managing minor illness and reducing accidents
• Health, wellbeing and development of the child, including support to be ready for school

Service offer

Your health visitor is notified about your pregnancy from maternity services and will contact you in the antenatal period, between 28 weeks and birth. This contact will be to introduce you to the service, give you advice and support leading up to the birth of your baby, and give you details of our further visits to you.

• All expectant parents will be offered a contact ante-natally from 28 weeks of pregnancy
• All families with new babies will be offered a contact in the home between 11 and 14 days after birth
• 6 to 8 week reviews will be offered face-to-face either in the home or a mutually agreed clinic/other suitable setting
• 10 to 12 month development review will be offered either face-to-face or virtual contact in the home or clinic setting
• All children will be offered a 27 month development review in the home.
• Additional face to face and virtual contact for children and families as indicated by need or on parental request

If you would like to speak with a member of the health visiting team to discuss any concerns or support required, please do not hesitate to call your local health visiting hub.

Our health visiting teams work with families, early years and other health colleagues and agencies to support the health and wellbeing of pre-school children across Dorset. Health visiting sits within the children and young people’s public health service 0 to 19, alongside school nursing.

The teams comprise health visitors, public health staff nurses and community nursery nurses. As a training trust, we are committed to supporting the training of student nurses and other allied practitioners and so students may accompany us and be present during appointments.

The service provides information, advice and support to pregnant women, expectant fathers and parents/carers of new babies and young children. This advice includes antenatal support, physical and emotional wellbeing of children, the immunisation schedule, parenting support, health and developmental reviews.

We provide services across Dorset, visiting children and families in their home or in community settings. We also provide a digital offer which enables video calling options using the attend anywhere platform. All expectant parents/carers will be offered a visit from a health visitor at around 28 to 30 weeks of pregnancy. Parents/carers with babies and children under the age of five who transfer into the area will be invited to access our service.

The personal child health record

At your initial visit, be it during an antenatal, prior to the birth of your child or during the post natal period, you will be given your child’s ‘personal child health record.’ This is more commonly known as ‘The Red Book.’ This becomes the main record regarding your child’s growth, health and development, please note, this book remains property of the NHS.

Pattern of contact

You can expect to have contact with a member of the health visiting team, GP or practice nurse at the following times. However, contact patterns will vary in accordance to need:

• End of pregnancy: antenatal visit
• 11 to 14 days: new birth visit and newborn hearing screen
• 2 to 6 weeks: baby and family wellbeing
• 8 weeks: GP medical, 1st immunisations
• 3 months: 2nd immunisations
• 4 months: 3rd immunisations as well as baby and family wellbeing
• 8 months: HV developmental review as well as baby and family wellbeing
• 12 months: immunisations
• 13 – 15 months: immunisations
• 24 months: developmental review
• 3.5 years: pre School review for children with additional needs
• 3.5 to 4years: pre school immunisations / boosters.

Immunisations

Immunisations are the best way to protect your child from serious diseases. The routine childhood immunisation programme has been extremely effective in achieving this. Your health visiting team will provide you with up to date information to support you in making an informed choice.

Please visit our child health section for more support information and guidance.

Maternity advice line

One phone number for all your maternity questions and concerns.

Concerned about your babies movements
Need advice from a midwife
Think you are in labour
Need to discuss your appointments or MATB1

Phone
0300 369 0388

Website
www.maternitymattersdorset.nhs.uk

Managing life with a health condition isn’t always easy. We know that understanding and keeping track of medications, treatments, tests and appointments with healthcare professionals are important, but also that a health condition affects our emotions, how we feel about ourselves, our social life, hobbies and day to day routines at home. Feeling confident managing all of that can be a challenge.

We have a self management coach and link worker as part of our team. Clinical healthcare professionals like doctors and nurses can be really important to help us manage the medical aspects of our health, and self management coaches and link workers can help us manage the emotional and practical impact in our day to day life.

The self management coach works with you to help you feel confident about managing your health and its impact on your day to day life. Discussions will centre around:

• Managing pain and fatigue
• Preparing for appointments
• Accessing information to understand conditions and treatments
• Feeling more confident getting out and about
• Building a network of support around you
• Accepting and coming to terms with having a health condition

The link worker can help you connect to your local community whether its signposting or supporting you to access services. Discussions will centre around:

• Improving your social support network  and feelings of isolation
• Information sourcing and gaining confidence to attend groups
• Identifying any other non-clinical support options that may be of benefit

Our self management coach and link worker are part of our team here to support you. Lots of patients and their carers say how hard it is when healthcare professionals only have ten minutes, but health coaches have up to 45 mins for each session to listen to you and support you.

Your GP, practice nurse or any member of the reception team can refer you to see a coach or link worker, so if you are interested in this, please mention it to one of the team.