Health Visitors

Health Visitors are nurses or midwives who are passionate about promoting healthy lifestyles and preventing illness. They work with pregnant women through to a child’s fifth birthday. Their role is to help families adjust to being new parents, and provide information and reassurance to support a baby or young child’s health, wellbeing and development.

Health Visitors can help and support you to make healthy choices for yourself and your family. Health Visitors are based locally and visit families at home or through a clinic.

During the first few years parents or carers will be invited to see a member of the health visiting team to check that their child is meeting their developmental milestones – we call these core contacts.

The Health Visitors offer a minimum of 5 core contacts within the first 5 years. Families will routinely be offered the following appointments either face to face or over the phone:

Antenatal (whilst you are pregnant)
New birth (usually between 10 – 14 days)
6 – 8 week review
9 – 12 month review
2 – 2.5 year review

If you need support outside of these key stages you can contact your health visitor and request additional contact.

East Somerset Health Visiting Team are also available for a drop-in session, located at Colliers Court, every Thursday from 1pm – 2:30pm. This is a friendly and fun session so that parents and carers can access health advice, meet others, weigh their baby and play. Please note: Colliers Court is in the same complex as the Frome Dental Access Centre, entrance from Manor Road. What3words: like.curvy.fork

Other things they can help with:

Infant feeding and breastfeeding advice
Child development
Immunisations
Healthy weight and physical activity
Emotional health and wellbeing
Parenting and local support groups
Behaviour
Sleep

How to contact the Health Visitors in Frome:

Health Visitors are available Monday – Friday, 9am – 5pm

You can call 0300 323 0118 to speak to a Duty Health Visitor or to book an appointment.

You can also use our free Under 5’s texting service Chat Health by sending a Text Message to 07480 635514

Email: eastmendiphealthvisitors@somerset.gov.uk

Facebook: Frome Health Visitors | Facebook

If you would like to find out more please visit The role of a health visitor (somerset.gov.uk)

School Nurse Team

School nurses are public health nurses who work with 5 to 19 year-olds, including those educated at home. They give confidential advice and support to children and young people, and work with parents and carers in schools and other community settings.

School nurses work to improve the health and wellbeing of school aged children and young people. They can also help with conversations between health and education.

A school nurse helps by:

Helping young people and families navigate the health system
Empowering children and young people to make healthy lifestyle choices
Providing a point of contact for children and young people, parents or carers, and schools that need health advice or information. This may involve assessing individual needs, offering advice and referring to other services as necessary
Supporting children and young people with on-going or specific health needs through liaising with other health professionals and specialists.
Keeping children and young people safe by working with their parents and carers and other professionals

Some of the areas a School Nurse could help with are:

Healthy relationships and sexual health for older young people.
Emotional wellbeing
Supported referrals for alcohol, smoking and substance misuse
Healthy lifestyles including eating, sleeping and physical activity
Toileting

How to contact a School Nurse in Frome:

By phone: School Nurses are available to speak to Monday – Friday, 9am – 5pm.

You can call 0300 790 9854 and/or leave a voicemail and someone will call you back. Please be aware that this may not be on the same working day.

Chat Health Text Messaging:

This is a free service staffed by School Nurses in Somerset. Chat Health is a nationally recognised, secure and confidential text messaging for parents / carers an young people. It allows access to health care professionals easily and anonymously for advice and support.

If you are a parent of a child aged 5-19 years, send a message to 07480 635515

If you are a young person aged 11-19 years, send a message to 07480 635516

If you would like to find out more about the service please visit School Nurses (somerset.gov.uk).