The Special Educational Needs School Nursing (SEN) Team are a team of qualified Children's Nurses, and Health Care Support Workers who are dedicated to supporting children and young people from aged 4 years until their 19th birthday who attend a special educational needs school within the Oldham area.
The SEN School Nursing Team works in partnership with a variety of different services and agencies to support children and young people with complex health needs and disability to achieve positive outcomes and to be able to access education.
The SEN School Nursing Team offers a range of support, interventions and training across the identified schools such as*:-
- Safeguarding children (including early help, child in need, child protection and children looked after)
- Training for education staff to feel confident and be competent to support children with health conditions in the school setting such as:
- Management of seizures including administration of rescue medication
- Management of asthma
- Gastrostomy and nasogastric tube care and administration of feeds
- Administration of medication (including oxygen)
- Tracheostomy care
- Administration of suction
- Management of anaphylaxis
- Support with health care planning including health assessment completion
- Contribution to Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCP)
- Transition / preparation for adulthood
- Health Promotion and Health Education
- Liaison with universal and specialist services
- Referral and signposting to other services and agencies
- Growth monitoring where identified
- Monitoring and management of health conditions
- Support to transition back into school following periods of ill health and worsening condition
- Provision of Immunisations and vaccinations (not flu or COVID)
*this list is not exhaustive
Children and young people will be predominately seen in the school setting however, where indicated, the SEN School Nursing Team may visit a child at home.
The team are part of the Children’s Community Nursing Service and are also based at the Integrated Care Centre and therefore may noy always be on site at school.
The service may also contact parents / carers via the telephone and provide advice and support.
Oldham Integrated Care Centre
For a referral into the service, the child / young person must attend one of the identified schools within the Oldham area. All children and young people attending one of these schools will have access to the SEN School Nursing service therefore a formal referral is not necessary however for specific support, training and health interventions additional referrals to the service can be made via telephone or email and are accepted from a variety of agencies for example **:
- Children’s community services – Children’s Community Nursing Team, Children’s Long Term Ventilation Team, Community Paediatricians, SEND Team, Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy,
- Health colleagues – GP, Practice Nurse
- School staff (consent should be sought from parents / carers)
- Hospitals – Emergency Department, Paediatric Observation and Assessment Units and Consultant Paediatricians (including specialist Paediatricians), Childrens General and Speciality Wards
- Urgent care centres and The Digital Hub
- Social Care Teams
** this list is not exhaustive
- Children’s Community Nursing Team
- Children’s Long Term Ventilation Team
- Oldham Community Paediatric Service
- Oldham Children’s Occupational and Physiotherapy Team
- Oldham Additional Needs Speech and Language Therapy
- Oldham Children’s Speech and Language Service
- Oldham Children Social Care Teams
- Oldham Community Children’s Nutrition and Dietetics Service