Welcome to you all,
We wanted to write to you in order to welcome you to the new partnership and say how pleased we are to be working together to deliver the Right Start and School Nursing Service in Oldham - this is our working name for the service and we want to do more work with you all on developing the vision, name and brand.
First of all, thank you all so much for working so hard to continue to deliver exceptional services for our families throughout this change process. You have kept children and families at the heart of your work, even when things were uncertain. We know how important and essential your work is to families in Oldham and we are looking forward to supporting you in continuing to do this.
As you will know, it was back in March 2021 that Oldham Council Cabinet decided to deliver our Right Start and School Nursing services though a new partnership arrangement (the section 75). This decision meant that the Children’s Centre and early education services would be moving into the council’s Early Years’ service, and the 0-19 public health elements moving to the Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust. The decision was also clear that the service would continue to be delivered as an integrated service with staff working together in partnership. We have worked hard to ensure that you have been kept informed and updated throughout the process, and we want to continue that going forward. We have just completed a public consultation on the formation of the new partnership and 99% were in support of the partnership and wanting to engage with the offer.
This new partnership between the NCA and the Council provides really exciting opportunities to work together in new ways to support our families. This includes working towards closer ways of working with Children’s Community Health services, and our Early Help and Education colleagues. We are both looking forward to working with you over the coming months and years.
More detailed information will follow on inductions are scheduled on the 4th (OC), 6th (NCA) and 12th (NCA). Where you have day to day management that crosses over the two organisations, it is encouraged you attend that induction as well.
We don’t anticipate any problems on April 1st, but team members will rotate round the sites over the first few days and all sites will be visited – so there will be on hand to support you face to face in most instances. If you do run into any problems with systems or anything, please contact emma.harrop@unitypartnership.com. We’ll review snags and questions every morning at 10.
Kind Regards,
Richard Lynch – Director of Education, Oldham Council
Kate McKenna – Director of Women’s and Children’s, Northern Care Alliance NHS FT