Warwickshire County Council is highlighting the positive benefits of the Warwickshire Child and Family Wellbeing service...
Warwickshire County Council (WCC) is highlighting the positive benefits being experienced by families within the first few months of its newly streamlined Public Health Nursing service, Warwickshire Child and Family Wellbeing.
The service, delivered by HCRG Care Group, supports 0-19 year olds (up to 25 year olds for those with special educational needs and disabilities) across the county, and consists of Warwickshire’s Health Visiting and School Nursing services.
Since launching in December 2025, Warwickshire Child and Family Wellbeing (WCFW) meets the evolving needs of families through an integrated ‘whole family’ approach, ensuring that public health nursing across Warwickshire is accessible, responsive, and focuses on local communities. With emphasis on prevention, early intervention, and community partnership, the service also ensures that children, young people, and families receive the right support, at the right time, and in the right place.
WCFW teams have already been integrated across Warwickshire’s Health Visiting and School Nursing services, with staff continuing service delivery at the same bases across the county and having a strengthened presence in schools to promote good health, spot concerns early, and support children’s wellbeing. WCFW has also been bringing professionals together to share knowledge, strengthen collaboration, and provide more seamless and accessible support for children and families within their local communities.
For example, WCFS delivers regular breastfeeding support groups at a variety of locations across the county, offering parents with babies of any age the opportunity to drop-in, discuss their breast-feeding concerns, and receive individual and bespoke evidence-based advice and support.
The service has also been sharing important continence information and support through in‑person training sessions with school staff and accessible online workshops for parents and carers. The sessions help schools and families to manage common continence issues before they escalate into more serious health problems and prevent a child’s school life from being affected, overall reducing stress for both children and adults.
WCFW teams are also working closely with schools and partners to strengthen safeguarding and emotional wellbeing support. School nurses and health visitors are already collaborating on child protection cases to ensure that all children within a family receive consistent, coordinated support. Targeted emotional health interventions are also being delivered following health needs assessments and have already helped young people in Warwickshire who are experiencing low mood or self‑harm to feel listened to and supported. One student positively impacted by the service described feeling “lighter in herself.”
To support schools and education settings, refreshed medical awareness training videos for asthma, anaphylaxis, and epilepsy have been relaunched to help professionals in these settings feel confident about how to respond if a child or young person requires immediate medical support to stay safe and well.
The WCFW service is also actively engaging with communities across Warwickshire to reduce health inequalities and improve access to support. This includes outreach work to families, delivering tailored emotional wellbeing sessions for children and young people in familiar settings. WCFW staff have also taken part in community and networking events to raise awareness of the new WCFW service to strengthen partnerships and ensure that families know how to access help when they need it.
To read more about the work of Warwickshire Child and Family Wellbeing, visit www.warwickshire.gov.uk/warwickshire-child-family-wellbeing
Dr Shade Agboola, Director of Public Health at Warwickshire County Council, said:
“Warwickshire Child and Family Wellbeing provides high-quality care and support from pregnancy, birth, and childhood through to adolescence and adulthood, delivering an integrated approach to Warwickshire’s Health Visiting and School Nursing services to ensure children and young people have access to the health services they need.
“As a child friendly county, it is great to see the service already focusing on prevention, early intervention, and working closely with schools and communities so that concerns are identified sooner and families can access the right support at the right time. We are committed making sure every child in Warwickshire is happy, healthy, heard, safe and skilled to have the best possible start in life, and we look forward to seeing the service continue to grow and support even more families across the county.”
Lisa Farrell, Regional Director - Children and Family Services at HCRG Care Group, said:
“Since launching Warwickshire Child and Family Wellbeing, we’re really proud of the way our teams have come together to deliver a more joined-up service for children, young people and families across the county.
“We’re already seeing the difference this is making in local communities - whether that’s parents getting support at our breastfeeding groups, or school nurses and health visitors working closely together to support families and keep children safe.
“We’re also making it easier for families to get help early, with practical support for parents and schools through things like continence workshops, as well as increasing our presence in schools so young people have more opportunities to speak to a health professional.
“By working closely with partners and reaching out into communities, we’re building a service that’s easier to access, more connected, and focused on giving families the right support at the right time.”
In Warwickshire, all families are offered five health visitor-led reviews from pregnancy through to their child’s early years, as part of the Government’s Healthy Child Programme. Delivered between 28–36 weeks of pregnancy and up to the age of three, these reviews provide consistent support at key stages of a child’s development.
Health visitors work closely with families to offer advice and reassurance on areas such as infant feeding, child development, and adjusting to parenthood. They also provide support with more complex challenges, including postnatal mental health, family wellbeing and safeguarding concerns, and can connect families with wider local services where needed.
WCFW’s School Nursing service supports children and young people from school age through adolescence, promoting their physical, emotional and mental wellbeing. The service provides advice and support on issues such as healthy lifestyles, emotional health, relationships and safeguarding, working closely with families, schools and other professionals.
Families can access support from WCFW by contacting one of the following options:
- Email wcfw.contact@hcrgcaregroup.com
- Phone 0300 247 0072 (Monday-Friday 9am-5pm)
- ChatHealth Text Advice Service (about 0-5 year olds only): 07520 615 293
For more information about WCFW, visit www.warkschildandfamily.co.uk
Warwickshire is a child friendly county that aims to ensure all children and young people have access to the health services they need. To learn more about WCC’s Child Friendly Warwickshire programme, visit www.childfriendlywarwickshire.co.uk