Children’s health services in Derbyshire hosted a visit from two of England’s top nurses so they could learn about a trailblazing project which is boosting the health and wellbeing of local families under the care of the NHS by offering support via Citizens Advice with wider cost-of-living worries.
Derbyshire Community Health Services NHS Foundation Trust’s 0-19s services team were delighted to welcome Duncan Burton, Chief Nursing Officer for England, and Professor Jamie Waterall, Deputy Chief Public Health Nurse for England, to Alfreton Primary Care Centre to discuss the success of a partnership with Citizens Advice which has unlocked £2m in unclaimed benefits for struggling local families.
Duncan and Jamie heard how the joint initiative with Citizens Advice delivers a direct referral line for health visitors and specialist community public health nurses working with families with children from 5-19 years, who would benefit from the support and expertise of Citizens Advice on a broad range of cost of living factors affecting their health and wellbeing including benefits, debt and housing.
Claire Scothern, General Manager of Children’s Services at Derbyshire Community Health Services NHS Foundation Trust, said:
“It was such a great honour to meet with Duncan and Jamie to share the fabulous work undertaken by the teams in children’s services and our partnership with Citizens Advice.
“The project has helped families in Derbyshire claim over £2 million
in unclaimed benefits and has supported families to enable them to buy food, meet the rising costs of their utility bills and remove the uncertainty of meeting the basic needs of their children. This has been humbling to see.“The impact of poverty on the wider determinant of health is well evidenced and this is something as health visitors we were seeing increase due to the cost-of-living crisis. The project has helped over 2,000 families, and we would love to see the upscaling of the direct line across the country so that more families can benefit from such a simple solution.”
Duncan Burton, Chief Nursing Officer for England, said:
“It was a pleasure to meet nursing colleagues and others from the Trust’s 0-19s services team and learn how their partnership with Citizens Advice is supporting families in Derbyshire.
“This innovative project demonstrates the essential role our public health nursing profession has in promoting and protecting the health and wellbeing of our communities. Thank you to everyone involved.”
Professor Jamie Waterall, England’s Deputy Chief Public Health Nurse said:
“As the most trusted profession in our communities, nurses and midwives are ideally placed to support all families to access support which will improve their lives. The partnership between the public health nursing profession and the Citizens Advice Bureau in Derbyshire should be applauded for supporting families to access vital support, which is clearly making a huge difference.”