Bedfordshire and Luton Children's Community Specialist Nursing Service

We are a multidisciplinary service which means that you may speak to a variety of professionals within the Children’s Community Nursing and Specialist Nursing Teams. If you contact our service you may see or speak to a range of different professionals, such as:

• Administrators are very skilled NHS professionals that provide the organisational support for our nursing services. They are also the friendly voices at the other end of the phone when contacting the service. They can signpost your enquiry to the most appropriate person.
• Registered Nurses are involved in providing nursing care to babies, children and young people in the community. This includes assessment of your child’s healthcare needs, implementing care and delivering treatments. They also monitor your child’s condition and evaluate your child’s healthcare needs.
• Healthcare Support Workers (including Nursery Nurses, Assistant Practitioners and Nursing Associates) work under the supervision of the nursing team to support them in delivering high quality care. Our healthcare support workers will carry out some clinical duties and will report back to the nursing team so that your child’s care is always overseen.
• Student Healthcare Professionals, learning how to be part of the medical profession, might be working alongside the team as part of their studies. We offer placement opportunities for a range of student healthcare professionals including student nurses, paramedics, health visitors, school nurses, and allied healthcare professionals. They maybe involved in your child's care but will be under direct supervision. 

Our team works together to support babies, children, young people, and their families. Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust is dedicated to creating a safe and secure environment where our staff can provide care without facing abuse, aggression, or violence.

Our team across Bedfordshire and Luton provide a community based service for children with very complex health needs that have met the criteria for children’s continuing health care. We deliver packages of care to babies, children and young people based on their assessed need. We can provide care in a variety of settings including the family home, educational settings and in hospital based on the care outlined in the completed decision support tool. 

The team support babies, children and young people with complex medical needs. We aim to:

• improve the quality of life of any child with complex needs and their family  
• avoid hospital admission wherever possible and facilitate early hospital discharge, responding to changes in care delivery as required 
• deliver care at home wherever possible, and provide support, education and relevant training to parents as needed
• support multidisciplinary team working, liaising with health and social care and education professionals to ensure the best quality outcomes for children, young people and their families

The team provides clinical care to babies, children and young people with complex health needs or disabilities who attend special needs schools. There may be a member of the nursing team on the school site on a daily basis. But we work in partnership with the education team to provide care in school, so this may not always be the case.

A member of staff at a school can contact our team by telephone. 

The special needs school nursing service provide care for babies, children and young people with disabilities and complex health needs including:

• writing and supporting health care plans
• supporting the physical health care needs of children with complex medical conditions 
• developing specific care plans for use in school, including diabetes, epilepsy, and asthma care plans
• supporting with specific needs (when needed) around continence and sleep concerns
• supporting with the administration of medicines, either by the nursing team or supporting education to complete this 
• providing telephone advice for families who might need additional support
• providing training and advice for school staff in supporting children in school and meeting the needs of children with complex medical conditions, such as medicines management training 
• home visits for children with complex health needs as part of care planning 
• liaising with specialist services and GP practices

The team is made up of experienced children's nurse practitioners who have undertaken additional advanced training including prescribing to be able to see, treat and discharge babies, children and young people presenting with acute symptoms of minor illness.

If you are referred to this service by the hospital, your GP or other community healthcare professional, the team will contact you to discuss the service they can offer which could include:

• an initial telephone assessment to review symptoms
• a face to face clinic review (if needed)

If you are referred to the service after calling NHS 111 you will be booked directly into a time specific clinic appointment and will be seen face to face in the clinic setting.

This service cannot see you at home. You will be required to travel to our clinic at Grove View in Dunstable or Kempston Child Development Centre in Bedford. 

This service supports effective diagnosis and care of children and young people with a diagnosis of epilepsy within the community. We help support children, young people and their families to manage the symptoms of epilepsy. They also help to avoid unnecessary hospital admissions and attendances. The team support from birth to preparing for adulthood and transition into adult services. 

Read more about the epilepsy

This service supports children across Bedfordshire and Luton with managing their asthma diagnosis. The service along with acute hospital paediatricians offer guidance and nursing care to children, young people and their families. This enables better management of their complex or difficult asthma symptoms.

By providing additional support in the community, the service aims to avoid unnecessary hospital admissions and attendance into urgent or emergency care. They do this by empowering children, young people and their families to manage the chronic nature of an asthma diagnosis.

In Luton there is also respiratory support from the nursing service for children with cystic fibrosis and primary ciliary dyskinesia. 

The team supports children across Luton with a diagnosis of sickle cell or thalassemia. The service, along with acute hospital paediatricians offers guidance and nursing care to children, young people and their families. This enables better management of their condition.

By providing additional support in the community, the service aims to avoid unnecessary hospital admissions and attendance into urgent or emergency care. They do this by empowering children, young people and their families to manage the chronic nature of a sickle cell or thalassemia diagnosis.

The support from this service can include:

• specialist information and advice about sickle cell and thalassaemia conditions.
• prenatal, antenatal and neonatal screening
• counselling and support services for those affected by sickle cell and thalassaemia
• home visits to assess and address individual needs
• health information to help maintain the best state of health and reduce hospital admission
• links between hospital, community services and home

The team help children and young people who have difficulty controlling their bladder or bowels. This is referred to as continence and includes constipation, day time wetting and night time wetting. They can help children and young people who have already had support from the health visiting and school nursing service but need further support.

Read more about the Children's Continence Team

Transition is the process for preparing young people known to children's services for adulthood and adult services. During this process, we aim to meet the needs of young people and their parents and carers in a holistic way. This is to ensure the most comprehensive and cohesive transition is met.

Our transition goal is to ensure young people are given enough information so they are able to expect what might happen in the future for their healthcare needs. Our preparing for adult healthcare policy is based on the NICE guidelines to ensure that we apply principles of good practice to transition. 

For social care information relating to transition from children's to adult services visit:

• Central Bedfordshire SEND Local Offer
• Bedford Borough Local Offer
• Luton Transition Team

You can also read more about:

• An easy read guide for young people transitioning to adult's services - WellChild