Health assessments

These should happen once a year. Many areas now have a special nurse who carries out the health assessments. Remember these assessments are for you. They are not about weighing and measuring you. The health assessments are about issues you want to discuss. There may be some certain questions the nurses have to cover, but no one is there to force you to look at issues. It’s all up to you. Some young people worry that everything that is spoken about is passed onto their Social Worker, but only a brief summary of what is covered in the assessment is passed onto Social Workers. You can even try asking the nurse if you can discuss things confidentially. The nurses we spoke to said this may be possible. Think about the questions you have before you go into your health assessment and get the most from health assessments. Don’t worry if you don’t get everything covered in the assessment, most special nurses and health workers we spoke to said they were happy for young people to contact them in between their health assessments. So if you’ve got any nagging questions – get on the phone and get those nurses working.

Reviews

Many children and young people hate reviews and other meetings – all your embarrassing details discussed in public. But did you know you can ask for people to ask to leave the room for parts of the meeting. When it comes to your health who needs to know the details? Often only you, your carer / key worker and social worker. So go on get the others thrown out for 10 minutes and get some privacy.

Reviews are a time to get things sorted including health. It doesn’t just have to be about a problem either. You may want to ask about taking up a hobby or joining a club to get you fitter. Transport or funding may need to be sorted.

REMEMBER…..

*Know what you want to be talked about at a review or other meeting.
*Let the “chair” of the meeting or your social worker know that you have some issues to bring to the meeting.
*Ask an advocate ( or carer, key worker or someone else you trust)
to help you to have your say at meetings.
*Use meetings to improve your health. Don’t be shy to bring up the subjects you want to discuss.
*Get the most from meetings.

Files

You can ask to see your Social Services file at any age. You may not get a “yes” to your request. Social Services can keep certain parts of the file from you if they talk about other people beside yourself. This is known as third party information and permission is needed for you to see information about other people. Social Services can also keep parts of your file from you if they think the information may upset you.
But don’t sit there worrying about what people may be writing about you or feeling angry. Go on give it a try ASK TO SEE YOUR FILE, if that’s what you want.

*You might find important information about your health in your file.
*Ask your Social Worker who you need to write to or phone to see your file.
*Get an Advocate, friend or carer to help you if you need to.
*Remember, you have a right to write down your own comments for your file.

Click here to get some advice & Support.
or
Click here to continue