A NEW partnership has been announced which will improve support for children of all ages across the county.

The partnership is between Northumberland County Council and Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust (HDFT), which will begin this month, aimed at linking health visiting and school nursing services more closely with other services which support children across the county.

The services will continue to be delivered locally by the same health visitors and school nurses, retaining their local knowledge of Northumberland and their relationships with children and their families.

Cllr Wendy Pattinson, cabinet member for wellbeing said: “Health visitors and school nurses play a vital role in helping children and young people to lead healthy lives, as well as identifying and providing additional support to those whose health conditions or life circumstances place them at particular risk of poor physical or mental health.

“Our plan is to link these services more closely with other services for young people, to make access to comprehensive and co-ordinated support as easy as possible for those who need it.”

HDFT which is partnering up with Northumberland County Council already manages these services in seven local authorities across the North-East and North Yorkshire.

Steve Russell, chief executive of HDFT said: “Although our Trust name is Harrogate and District, we already provide services across the North-East, and we will now have bases in Northumberland too.

"We are looking forward to working closely with the current team of health visitors, school nurses and other staff who currently provide this service – who will continue in their roles and still be based in Northumberland to ensure there is no disruption to the service.

“We take great pride in providing high levels of care for children, young people and their families so that they can get the best possible start in life and our aim is to develop and improve on the current the service to better meet the needs of the community.”