Overview
Improving the health of babies, children and young people in the Black Country
It can be extremely stressful when your child is unwell. We know that there is a huge amount of information available at your fingertips, but finding something that provides clear and accurate information is not always easy!
The resources on this website have been developed in partnership with parents and healthcare professionals from across Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton. You'll find clear information on common childhood illnesses, including advice on what 'red-flag' signs to look out for, where to seek help if you need it, what you should do to keep your child comfortable and how long your child's symptoms are likely to last.
These resources are used not only by parents and carers but also by healthcare professionals. This reduces variation in the way advice is given and helps ensure you and your child are receiving consistently high quality care and guidance.
This local website is part of the national Healthier Together group of websites, which are used by the NHS up and down the country. For more information about the vision of Healthier Together, you can listen to this podcast..
Core Principles
- Parents feel empowered about whether and when they need to seek the advice of a healthcare professional.
- Parents are clearly signposted to appropriate healthcare services when required.
- At every point of contact, the healthcare practitioner (doctor, nurse, paramedic, pharmacist) should have a clear understanding of the limits of their own competence and when and where to seek guidance.
- Parents should receive consistent and appropriate advice across all the health service providers in the Black Country.
- Standardisation of local referral pathways and clinical guidelines, which are understood by all healthcare practitioners.
- Effective communication and information sharing between healthcare practitioners and services across all health services in the Black Country should be in place.
Feedback from parents
"We have been through a month or more of our child (now almost 15 months) being ill with several virus infections and a number of visits to the doctors. It has been a very stressful and worrying time. I have just come across this website (picked up the leaflet from our doctors surgery) and it is BRILLIANT. Simple, reassuring and helpful. THANK YOU."
"It’s like a mini doctor for you at home, that’s how it is, that’s how I see it. It gives all information, what should I do, in what cases I need to go to hospital or how I can treat my baby at home."
"It's so clear isn't it? It's simple, it's in your face, you start at the bottom, you tick them off and you go up and start ticking them off and say, okay, this is the point I've got to, we need to go to the doctor or, oh, we've got pain or diarrhoea but no vomiting and nothing else so we're all right. No, I think that's really well laid out and really clear."
"He had been struggling to eat for two or three days, and it was clearly stated on the website that don’t worry about babies not eating, little and often might be a better way than standard meals. That kind of put my mind at rest actually yesterday, because I was getting a little bit stressed that he wasn’t eating the meals in the times that he usually did. Yesterday I changed my strategy and I was feeding him bits here and there, and he ended up eating the same amount, but it was a lot less stressful for me and probably for (name of baby) as well."
"We felt reassured that, 'oh actually, my baby's okay, to keep it at home for two, three days, I don't need to panic...' It's very good."
Feedback from professionals
“It’s a great resource for parents/carers and professionals a like. It provides useful advice and direction for professionals, helping to ensure we offer most the up to date support and advice”
"It is great to have a site to signpost our families which i have confidence in the contents which is also bespoke to our Local Maternity and Neonatal System (LMNS). Therefore the families will be able to access accurate, up-to-date and timely pregnancy related health information to enable them to make informed choices."
"Supportive, clear information for all families to understand how best to self-care at home and gives some reassurance for common health conditions. The website can be translated to different languages. Also, font size and contrast can be adjusted to suit the reader. The pathways and patient safety net resources are beneficial to most members of General Practice teams to guide our patient queries and support consultations."
"Healthier Together is a brilliant resource for parents and anyone looking after children; the range of information about common health problems in children all in one place is such a good idea and my favourite part is the ability to translate it into so many different languages."