Start Well
Living a great life at home
Starting Well 0-19 Service
The Starting Well Service delivers the Healthy Child Programme for 0-19 year olds along with delivery of our children’s centres. It is an essential service to help support children and families to live happy and healthy lives in their community.
The aim of Starting Well is to give children the best start in life by focussing on their health needs and preventing health conditions which could prevent them from leading the life they want.
Starting Well is a significant area of spend for the Council.
|
|
2018/19 |
2019/20 |
2020/21 |
2021/22 |
2022/23 |
Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
0 -19 Starting Well Service spend ‘000s |
5,667 |
5,667 |
5,667 |
5,667 |
5,707 |
28,376 |
Starting Well 5 year spend
Where we are now
A 0-19 service delivering 0-5 Healthy Child Programme, 5 – 19 Health Child Programme within an integrated Children’s Centre delivery is commissioned until 31st December 2024.
Work is taking place to complete a 0 – 19 Joint Strategic Needs Assessment which will drive the ambition for the new Starting Well service.
Where we want to be
We want the future service to include more choice and accessibility for children through innovative and integrated solutions available in the communities where children and young people live.
Who we need
We want to work with Community Sector providers to explore opportunities and ideas for integrating with the main service delivery organisation to meet children’s health needs in different ways.
Our commissioning intentions
- We will review the service model for 0 – 19 Starting Well service with children, young people and their families who use the service and families in 2023. The development will include co-production and engagement to ensure the new service will meet the needs of our residents
Short breaks for families and carers
Short breaks are services that can help families with a child or young person with Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND). They give SEND children the chance to have time away from their families, make new friends and have fun. They give parents a break from caring for their child; give parents the chance to spend time with their other children; and are designed to meet different levels of need
|
|
2018/19 |
2019/20 |
2020/21 |
2021/22 |
2022/23 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Short Breaks spend ‘000s |
572 |
598 |
532 |
513 |
550 |
Where we are now
The Short Breaks Commissioning Strategy 2021 – 2025 outlines the commissioning intentions of the borough following rigorous consultation with parents, carers and other key stakeholders.
From 1st April 2022 Cheshire West and Chester has commissioned community based short break groups which provide both weekend and holiday provision for children and young people with SEND.
In addition, we commission information, advice and practical support via a support worker for children and helps them to access activities which meet their interests of whilst providing a short break to their parents/carers.
The Council’s Pinewood overnight short breaks facility is open four nights per week providing a maximum of 3 beds a night. Quality of provision is judged by Ofsted to be Outstanding. The provision is run efficiently and maintains capacity at 80% or above on a regular basis. There is limited availability of beds currently and Pinewood experiences difficulties recruiting due to the days and hours staff are required to work. The staff working in Pinewood are highly skilled and achieve good outcomes for children and young people.
Where we want to be
We want to increase our offer of short breaks after school and during the holidays for children and young people with complex needs provided on a special school site.
We want to increase the choice of short breaks to include opportunities to support young people with the development of independent living skills so that they can thrive in their local communities.
We would like to offer far more choice for overnight short breaks which enhance children and young people’s lives whilst giving the parents a break. For example, we would like to develop activity based short breaks which develop skills for independent living and provide opportunities children and young people otherwise wouldn’t be able to experience. Cheshire West and Chester has access to good quality services for example Residential provision offered by Edsential but needs workers to support the children and young people to access this service.
Who we need
We want to work with providers and organisations who can support children and young people who have more complex needs.
We want to work with providers who can provide support to enhance independent living skills or can support children and young people with different experiences as part of short daybreaks and overnight stays.
