Best start and early years

The healthy child programme [external link] is a national framework for improving the health and wellbeing of children and young people. It sets out the evidence-based approaches to prevention, early intervention and family support. It should be used by the NHS and local authorities to inform the commissioning and delivery of services.

 As Director of Public Health, I have responsibility for commissioning a public health nursing service. This includes the provision of health visitors and school nurses. Specifically, the following universal health and development reviews must be offered:

• an antenatal review from 28 weeks of pregnancy
• a new birth health and development review (between 1 day and 2 weeks old)
• a 6 to 8 week health and development review
• a 12 month health and development review (this can take place when the child is 9 to 15 months old) 
• a 2 to 2 and a half year health and development review (this can take place when the child is 24 to 30 months old)

The service also offers a child health and development review to support school readiness and the transition to school. This is for children between the ages of 3 and 5 years of age.

The health and development reviews are all available face to face and provide an opportunity for:

• assessment of child development
• immunisation advice
• screening tests
• maternal and infant mental health support
• information and guidance to support parenting and healthy lifestyle choices
• tailored support for vulnerable infants and families

All families with a child under five in Darlington have a named health visitor to deliver the healthy child programme. Care commences during the antenatal period. The Growing Healthy Team consists of health visitors, screeners, early years practitioners, infant feeding specialists and an Inclusion Specialist Public Health Nurse. The team provide expert health assessments, advice, support and interventions for babies, children and families.

The team encourages and supports parents and carers to develop life-long skills to enable them to make informed choices that positively impact their family’s future health and wellbeing.

The team is community-based and is accessible at a range of different venues including the family home, family hubs and community venues. The service works in partnership with other agencies to ensure all families receive individualised support to help build parents’ confidence in their ability to give their child the best start in life.

The Darlington Safeguarding Partnership provides Eyes on the Baby as a package of training and resources designed to support multi agency working. This is to promote safer sleeping and prevent sudden infant death syndrome. 

The training has been offered to staff who have contact with families, with over 400 frontline staff in Darlington trained so far. There are three different levels of training available to staff, depending on the nature of their job. This ensures the training is appropriate and can easily be put into practice. The training continues to be available and can be accessed through the MeLearn platform [external link]

The Darlington 0-5 Growing Healthy team provide an enhanced single agency pathway, Great Start in Life, for babies and children with identified vulnerability which is identified in the antenatal period through to the age of 6 to 8 weeks. The enhanced pathway of support continues for the first two years of life, which is a time of rapid brain development, attachment formation and physical growth, making infants highly sensitive to their environment. Families experiencing challenges such as pre-term birth, poverty, parental mental‑health difficulties, unstable housing or limited social support may struggle to meet their child’s needs without additional help.

The enhanced pathway of health visiting for children aged 0–2 years offers a more responsive and intensive level of support during this crucial stage of early childhood. It builds on the universal provision all families are offered, by increasing the frequency of contacts. This approach supports earlier identification of developmental, emotional or environmental needs. It also ensures families receive timely, tailored interventions and support whilst also supporting the development of trusted relationships between health visitors and families.

The pathway has been developed by the Growing Healthy service and was introduced to Darlington in late 2025. Whilst it is still early days 91 families are already being supported through this pathway, with some positive outcomes already being seen.

The Best Start in Life and Family Hub programme [external link] aims to give early access to support and childcare, supporting the ambition of 75% of children starting school ready to learn by 2028. 

McNay Street is the main Family Hub, providing a one-stop shop of easily accessible services for families with young children. A programme of activities is offered to support children and families in Darlington with:

• preparing children for school
• parenting skills
• integrated child and family health services
• targeted early interventions
• information, advice, support and activities for families
• adult learning and employment support

Some services are also offered on an outreach basis at;

• Red Hall Community Centre
• Coleridge Centre (Skerne Park)
• Firthmoor Community Centre
• Mount Pleasant.

The Building Stronger Families Service [external link] is designed to coordinate the right timely support to children, their families and carers, prevent escalation of issues and promote resilience and independence. The service coordinates a multi-agency support offer for families, bringing together the agencies and services which are needed, so that families do not have to navigate the system alone. The needs of a family can be wide ranging, including health and wellbeing, child development and ensuring the safety of children. Families within the service are supported through an early help assessment and an offer of targeted support and interventions, including:

• help with challenging behaviour
• addressing health needs
• child or adult mental health difficulties, 
• addressing substance and alcohol addiction 
• domestic abuse
• reducing parental conflict help for families of children with autism spectrum disorder and additional needs
• employment, housing issues, anti-social behaviour and school attendance issues

In Darlington assessment and support for Disabled Children and Young Adults is provided by the Life Stages service. The service supports disabled children, young people and adults with a learning disability in Darlington using a Progression Model. This builds on strengths, skills and support networks to encourage independence throughout life.