The Problem

In the UK, emergency paediatric admissions rose by 13% between 2013-2017. The workforce across primary, emergency and paediatric care have to meet the ongoing health needs of the population, and digital solutions such as web-based resources with single point of access can improve care (Topol Report 2019).

Inconsistent messages from healthcare professionals generate anxiety for parents and impacts on subsequent health-seeking behaviour. The Healthier Together programme was established in Wessex in 2014 to promote integrated working across health and social care to ensure consistency across the urgent care pathway and provide access to high quality resources promoting self-care for families.

Aims

Core Principles:

1. Parents feel empowered about whether and when to seek the advice of a healthcare professional.
2. Parents are clearly signposted to appropriate healthcare services when required.
3. Parents should receive consistent and appropriate advice across the whole urgent care system.
4. At every point of contact, the healthcare practitioner has a clear understanding of the limits of their own competence and when and where to seek guidance.
5. Local referral pathways and clinical guidelines across the whole acute care system are standardised and understood by all healthcare practitioners.
6. Effective communication and information sharing between healthcare practitioners and services across the whole acute care system should be in place.

Making the Case For Change

Digital technologies are transforming the ability to empower patients and their families/carers to participate actively in their own care, with a greater focus on well-being. Analysis in Hampshire of parents’ perceptions found their worries around health needs in their children reduced by access to the Healthier Together digital resources and that they expect their health seeking behaviour to change with continuing access to the digital strategy.

The Healthier Together website provides clear information on common childhood illnesses used by both families and healthcare professionals, including advice on what ‘red-flag’ signs to look out for, where to seek help if required, what they should do to keep their child comfortable and how long their child’s symptoms are likely to last.

Co-design has been a crucial aspect of the success of the programme. From the outset, views of parents and carers were sought, along with those of the healthcare professionals delivering urgent care paediatric services. Relationship building across organisational boundaries has enabled the production of clinical resources and agreement on treatment pathways and safety netting resources. In addition, an extensive education programme involving all professional groups involved in the care of children has been the catalyst for successful implementation.