A new app to support the wellbeing of children and young people in the district launches in Wakefield

The Growing Healthy 0-19 Service App has been developed by the Growing Healthy Wakefield 0-19 Children’s Service, in collaboration with Wakefield Families Together, and is specifically tailored to the local area to ensure the healthcare information provided is relevant to people who live in the district.

The Growing Healthy Wakefield 0-19 Children’s Service provides health visiting and school nursing support - working with children, young people and their families to ensure that children have the best start in life and are able to fulfil their potential.

The service, which comprises varied public health practitioner’s working across the 0-19 service, is provided by Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust (HDFT), the largest provider of 0-19 health services in England, looking after over 500,000 children across nine local authorities.

The app provides information including videos on a wide range of topics such as antenatal care; infant feeding, diet and nutrition, child development; perinatal, infant and child emotional health; children with special educational needs; and making sure your child is ready for school.

Mums, dads and partners can access a wide range of accessible self-help guidance and support, whilst children and young people can take advantage of the activity tracker and health promotion resources included on the app.

The app also provides information on accessing the service, including family and youth hubs, local support groups and activities available across the Wakefield district. The app is interactive so that users can provide feedback on their experience of the Growing Healthy Wakefield 0-19 Children’s Service.

Claire Abell, general manager at Wakefield 0-19 Children’s Service, said: “We are delighted to launch our new Growing Healthy 0-19 Service App, which will be a real benefit for parents and their families.

“The app, which is free to download, was created so that parents, carers and young people could easily access reliable, trusted information about health and wellbeing whenever they need it.

“The app will be used by our Growing Healthy Wakefield 0-19 Children Service to help send information across communities to keep families happy, healthy and safe. And it will continue to be updated and developed in the future and we look forward to receiving feedback from users so that we can further improve the content and the launch of additional functions, including a virtual chat function.”

Councillor Margaret Isherwood, Wakefield Council’s Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, said: “We are delighted to be working with Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust and our partners to deliver this product.

"The app will provide our residents with a whole wealth of support at their fingertips. The health and wellbeing of children, young people and their families is our primary concern and this new app will help us to further improve on the high level of service that we provide in Wakefield district.”

The app can be downloaded for free from the Apple App Store or Google Play by searching for ‘Children’s Health Service-HDFT’.

Further information on the Growing Healthy Wakefield 0-19 Children Service can be found at https://www.hdft.nhs.uk/services/childrens-services/wakefield-0-19-service/ or by calling 0300 373 0944.