Things you can do to help us support you and your Looked After Child:
Top tips for foster carers
- Make sure you take your child/young person’s health care plan and health and wellbeing passport to all health appointments
- Don’t forget to take the child/young person’s consent form with you to health appointments. If you don’t have it, ask your social worker to obtain it for you as soon as possible
- Please remember to bring your completed Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) for children in your care aged 4 to16 and Ages and Stages (ASQ) forms for those who are under 5 years of age to the health assessment along with any dates seen by the dentist and optician.
- If the child you are caring for requires additional medical treatment such as blood tests, an operation or an X-ray, make sure you tell the doctor or nurse at the clinic appointment so you and the child/young person’s social worker can get consent sorted out before the appointment to not cause any delay in the child/young person’s treatment
- Make sure your social worker has given you the child’s Red Book. If it’s not available ask your health visitor or Looked After Children’s team to get you a copy
- Don’t forget to cancel any health appointments if you can’t make it and rearrange
- Please take a card with you to hand to the receptionist if you don’t want you or your child/young persons names calling out in the waiting area. There is a card provided in the health and wellbeing passport for you to complete.
Top tips for social workers
- Please keep the Looked After Children team up-to-date with change of carers and address changes
- Do ensure the child/young person’s carer is given the child’s Red Book. If a duplicate copy is needed contact the child’s Health Visitor or Looked After Childrens Nurse
- Please make sure the foster carer is given the child’s consent form signed by the person with PR or children’s social care manager
- Please ensure consent forms for treatment such as blood tests, operations and X-rays are given priority so delay is not caused chasing consents
- Please ensure if the child changes carer the healt, the care plan is given to the new carer.
