Child Health Screener

We are seeking an enthusiastic and innovative Child Health Screener to join our dynamic School Health Team. This exciting role is based in schools, alternative education provisions, youth zones and community spaces across the borough. You will be part of a multidisciplinary team of school health professionals, addressing the health needs of children, young people, and their families in line with the Healthy Child Programme (519 years). You will proactively work to reduce the impact of vision, hearing concerns to support children to access their education, delivering high-quality, and evidence-based care.,

• Deliver the National Child Measurement Programme, and vision and hearing screening for children and young people.
• Support and provide parent advice coffee morning sessions.
• Complete onward referrals to other community health services for specialist support.
• Develop and maintain multi-agency partnerships at school and borough levels.
• Promote and increase the visibility of school health services in local communities.
• Maintain accurate electronic records using the RiO system., The school health service will contribute to the London Borough of Newham (LBN) key priorities set out in the corporate plan for children, young people and families and in accordance United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of the Child1.

The post holder will be a member of the School Health Team and work as part of the wider Child Health Information service (CHIS) team. The post holder will work in conjunction with the Child Health Practitioners (CHP) within the school health service. They will contribute to the assessment of health needs and delivery of appropriate services to meet needs of both the individual and the wider Community within a defined area of the London Borough of Newham. The post holder will undertake duties as delegated by the School Nurse, Child Health Practitioners, Public Health Programme Lead and other nursery nurses in the team. The Child Health Screener will support the delivery of the National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP) (Reception and Year 6 cohorts) and the Hearing and Vision Screening Programme (Reception cohort) across all primary schools in LBN and to children who attend alternative provisions. The post holder works as part of the LBN public health nursing team, liaising and working with statutory and voluntary agencies to promote the health and wellbeing of the local population as delegated. The post holder will assist and support the children and young peoples public health workforce (0-19) to carry out their duties around health screening, support around a specific health concern including safe guarding, uptake of routine immunisations, including school aged immunisations and the seasonal Nasal Flu programme. The post holder will be required to undertake the key functions within CHIS Team including liaison with local and national maternity and child health departments to enable smooth exchange of patient identifiable clinical data and information on a daily basis to facilitate clinical service delivery to local children and families living in Newham, as delegated. The post holder will be involved in data collection and inputting which contributes to identifying local health needs across the 0-19 years health services across the London Borough of Newham The post holder reports to the Child Health Practitioner and is supervised by the Public Health Programme Lead Health The post holder has no budget responsibility The post holder will be required to adhere to this dress code of smart but casual. The NCMP is a mandated annual programme delivered by all local authorities which involves taking the height and weight of all children in reception and year 6 cohorts. Vision screening is delivered in line with National Screening Committee recommendations and aims to identify children aged 4 to 5 years with reduced vision and amblyopia enabling timely intervention (PHE, 2018). Screening reception aged childrens hearing aims to identify any hearing problems that may have been missed or have slowly been getting worse since the newborn screen (NHS, 2018). Amblyopia is a form of abnormal vision system development. Early detection of amblyopia is necessary to avoid permanent visual impairment by allowing treatment to be undertaken within the sensitive time period of growth and change in the visual system.

The School Health Screener should have a minimum of 2 years experience of working with children of all ages and an interest in Public Health. The post holder will be expected to act within their scope of practice, level of training and competence and be aware of their limitations at all time. They will work across the four integrated locality hubs providing a screening service to all eligible children supporting the child health practitioner role. Strengthening the delivery of the universal 4, 5, 6, service model evidenced by the Healthy Child Programme and Health for All Children 5th Edition.

• - Strong clinical leadership skills.
• - Excellent communication, interpersonal, and report-writing abilities.
• - Knowledge of child development issues which can impact school aged children.
• - Competence in using clinical and administrative IT systems.
• - Understanding and commitment to equality, diversity, and inclusion principles., - Ability to travel independently within the borough.
• - A positive, resilient, and flexible attitude towards change and service improvement., - Significant post-registration experience working with children, young people, and families.
• - Working knowledge of safeguarding procedures and multi‑agency collaboration., -The applicant must have a minimum of a NVQ level 2/3 or equivalent, and have Math and English GCSE C or equivalent foundation skills.
• -Childhood Studies Level 2, -The applicant must have a minimum of a NVQ level 2/3 or equivalent, and have Math and English GCSE C or equivalent foundation skills.

Why Join Us?

Newham is an incredibly diverse borough with a very young population, experiencing significant regeneration as part of the Olympic legacy. With over 86,000 children and young people living in Newham, our vision is to ensure each child has the same life chances as those in other parts of London. Newhams 0-19 Children's Health Service underwent a CQC inspection in 2021 and was rated Good in all areas. We recognise that delivering high-quality services to the community depends on a healthy, motivated workforce. Therefore, we are proud to offer:

• Strong leadership and supportive management teams
• Employee wellbeing programmes
• A commitment to our HEART values and behaviours (Honesty, Equality, Ambition, Respect, Together)
  Flexible starting salary within the allocated grade for the right candidates
• Subsidised leisure passes
• Generous local government annual leave allowance
• Membership of the Local Government Pension Scheme
• Continued access to the NHS Pension Scheme (NHSPS) for health professionals who meet eligibility criteria
• Recognition of previous NHS continuous service

Learning & Development

• Support for advanced clinical training and a comprehensive workforce development package
• Clear competency frameworks and career progression pathways
• Access to smart technology to support modern working practices