Young people’s involvement in the development of Redcar & Cleveland School Nursing Service

The report describes how Healthwatch Redcar & Cleveland worked with young people to help shape the future development of the local School Nursing Service. The work arose from a 2016 Young People’s Survey, which found that only 10% of young people aged 13–15 would seek help or advice from a school nurse, while 28% felt the service could be improved. As a result, Healthwatch recommended raising awareness of the school nurse role and gathering feedback from young people about how the service could better meet their needs. 

In response, Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council expressed a commitment to involving young people in the redesign of the service, improving its branding and marketing, and extending the age range supported by the service beyond 16 years. 

To gather young people's views, Healthwatch held a workshop at Redcar & Cleveland College on 22 May 2017 involving 26 first-year Health and Social Care students. Students discussed what support they wanted, how they would like to access information about the service, preferred methods of contact, potential names for the service, and other improvement ideas. 

Students identified a wide range of support needs, including mental health issues such as anxiety, depression, bereavement and self-harm, sexual health, pregnancy support, bullying, relationship advice, family problems, eating disorders, substance misuse, healthy lifestyles, and emotional wellbeing. They also valued confidentiality, trust, consistent relationships with staff, and being directed to the right services. 

The workshop participants reported low awareness of services available within the college and stressed the importance of keeping students informed. They recommended using websites, social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter, text messages, college websites, posters, college television screens, presentations and classroom talks to promote the service. They particularly favoured receiving text messages rather than letters or phone calls. 

In terms of accessing support, students preferred a mixture of digital and face-to-face options, including dedicated websites, apps, email, social media messaging, live chat, telephone contact, and drop-in appointments. They highlighted the importance of confidential communication methods.

Students felt that the term “School Nurse” sounded too child-oriented and suggested alternative names such as “Health and Wellbeing Advisor,” “Health Advisor,” “Student Health Advisor,” “Youth Health Advice,” and “Young People’s Nurse.” 

The report concludes that young people strongly supported the creation of a dedicated website linked to social media channels as the main way of providing information and accessing support. Several students volunteered to join a working group to help develop these ideas further, particularly the content and design of a future website.