GP practices in Greenwich are working together with colleagues from other parts of the NHS to improve the health and care for children and young people in their neighbourhood.

The child health clinic in West Greenwich has been set up by practices in the Greenwich West Primary Care Network (PCN) to bring together a local GP, a dedicated paediatrician for that neighbourhood, and a children’s community nurse.

The team holds a triage meeting every week to discuss referrals for children and young people from clinicians across the area.

Monthly in-person clinics are hosted at one of the practices, with the paediatrician collaborating closely with GPs to ensure the best care for children and young people. Additionally, clinicians within the PCN have the chance to attend educational sessions conducted by the paediatrician.

Most referrals are triaged within a week.

Case study: Child A

One patient who benefited from this integrated child health clinic is 12-year-old Child A.

She was suffering from joint pains in her knees which was worse with activity and also experiencing clicking of the small joints in her hands with occasional swelling. Her parents were concerned about hypermobility as they felt her joints were more bendy than usual.

She was referred to the child health clinic where she was discussed in the triage meeting and then reviewed in the face-to-face clinic.

She was seen and examined in the clinic and found to not meet the criteria for hypermobility and she was referred to Queen Elizabeth Hospital for physiotherapy focusing on her hands and knees.

Conditions supported/seen:

The clinic supports all children and young people from the Greenwich West Primary Care Network practices with general paediatric conditions such as recurrent/chronic constipation, chronic cough, joint pains, persistent diarrhoea, breath holding attacks, tics, fatigue and weight loss, colic and many other health issues.

Feedback

Clinicians and patients and their families are full of praise for the approach.

One parent said: “This initiative is amazing. One thing I liked about it is within a week we were able to see the consultant and GP together. We were able to get a diagnosis and now we know what to do next, the consultant was able to do the checks and immediately refer us on for physiotherapy.

“It saved us so much time. We had anxiety about going to the hospital…but were given treatment options very quickly.”

The approach is now being rolled out to other PCNs in Greenwich.