Skip to main content
NHS

Spotlights:
School Nursing

coloured shape coloured shape

ChatHealth

ChatHealth was initially piloted in 2013 as a school nursing messaging service for young people. Since then, a significant number of school nursing services have implemented ChatHealth, making it available to nearly 3 million young people. Around half of these school nursing services also offer ChatHealth to parents of school-aged children.

ChatHealth is providing greater choice of access for young people and parents/carers to get advice and support from school nurses, with young people appreciating the anonymity it offers and parents and carers liking the convenience of it.

Number of Contacts

8,324

messaging conversations between young people and school nurses

(2024-25)

Top Reasons for Contact

  • Emotional health and wellbeing
  • Sexual health and relationships
  • Physical health
(2024-25)

Busiest Time for Contact

On Monday and Tuesday
between 15:00 – 16:00

(2024-25)

Service User Experience

72%

of young people who used ChatHealth said their conversation helped them

(2024-25)

Staff User Experience

113 million
views of ChatHealth social media ads on Snapchat and Instagram

(2024-25)

Feedback from a Young Person

“Recently it has felt like I have had nobody to talk to but talking to someone anonymously helped.”

(2024-25)

Service user engagement

4

Focus groups took place with young people in Leeds, Northamptonshire, Shropshire & Wolverhampton

Feedback from a School Nurse

“It is a very valuable service for young people, especially when young people have difficulty in engaging face-to-face or do not want to give their personal details initially.”

(2023-24)

SAPHNA survey

60%

of respondents said they offered text services to young people in a report by the School and Public Health Nurses Association (SAPHNA).

Evidence

Case study on Kent School Health’s Snapchat campaign to increase awareness with young people

Number of Contacts

4,483

messaging conversations between parents and carers of 5-19 year olds and school nurses

(2024-25)

Number of Contacts

55,403

messaging conversations with parents and carers of 0-19 year olds and school nurses/health visitors

(2024-25)

Top Reasons for Contact

  • Continence
  • Emotional health & wellbeing
  • Understanding behaviour
(2024-25)

Busiest Times for Contact

On Monday and Tuesday
between 9:00 – 11:00

(2024-25)

Service User Experience

73%

of parents and carers of school-aged children who used ChatHealth said their conversation helped them .

(2024-25)

Feedback from a Parent

“I would like to say how helpful and encouraging it is to know a parent can easily text to ask for advice. Especially for working parents!”

(2024-25)

SAPHNA survey

40%

of respondents said they offered text services to parents and carers in a report by the School and Public Health Nurses Association (SAPHNA).

Feedback from a School Nurse

“I feel it is a valuable service in a time when technology is widely used and can enable those who struggle to talk to people on the phone, or if English is a second language, to access support if needed.”

(2024-25)

Evidence

BBC Report on the launch of ChatHealth in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly in January 2024.

Here’s a selection of our partners…

 

coloured shape coloured shape

HealthWebsites

Health for Kids and Health for Teens are part of our suite of HealthWebsites, along with Health for Under 5s. Co-designed with service users, these award-winning health information and promotion websites provide age-appropriate health and wellbeing information to children, teenagers and their parents and carers.

We work in partnership with other NHS providers to help boost the online presence of school nursing teams and their partner services. Local Area sections are managed by local health teams to provide up-to-date information on local advice, events and support services.

Health for Kids provides a fun way for primary school aged children to learn about their health.

The Grown-Ups area offers health advice, news and support services to guide parents and carers through their child’s primary school years.

Number of visitors

167,564

visits to
healthforkids.co.uk

(2024-25)

Number of Local Areas

12

Local Areas
delivered by NHS partners 

(2024-25)

Most Visited Pages

  1. Game: Poop Shooter
  2. Game: Lunchbox Hero
  3. Game: Shine Time
(2024-25)

Service User Experience

79%

of Health for Kids visitors said the information helped them

(2024-25)

Where Visitors Came From

  • Search engines
  • School learning platforms
  • NHS provider websites
(2024-25)

Accessibility

115,148

visitors used the accessibility toolbar for text-to-speech, reading and translation support.

(2024-25)

Health for Teens provides an engaging way for young people aged 11-19 to learn about their health.

Number of visitors

508,497

visits to
healthforteens.co.uk

(2024-25)

Number of Local Areas

16

Local Areas
delivered by NHS partners

(2024-25)

Most Visited Pages

  1. Video: 5 Ways to a Better Nights Sleep
  2. Quiz: What Kind of Friend Are You? 
  3. Article: 7 Most Common Medical Emergencies
(2024-25)

Service User Experience

78%

Health for Teens visitors said the information helped them

(2024-25)

Where Visitors Came From

  • Search engines
  • NHS.uk website
  • Snapchat
(2024-25)

Accessibility

16,389

visitors used the accessibility toolbar for text-to-speech, reading and translation support.

(2024-25)

Here’s a selection of our partners…

coloured shape coloured shape

HealthForms

HealthForms are used by health teams to conduct online health needs assessments to identify and support the unmet health needs of individual and population groups. Our dedicated project team provide implementation support, working in close partnership with local teams to build questionnaires to suit local needs and policies.

The majority of teams we work with are public health nursing teams (school nursing and health visiting) who have rolled out HealthForms to deliver school health questionnaires. These are designed to be completed by students in secondary schools and by the parents of children in primary school, in line with the local requirements of the 0-19 Health Child Programme.

Other NHS teams are also using HealthForms to deliver digital waiting list reviews for children and young people in services such as CAMHS, speech and language therapy and continence services.

 

Number of Responses

38,058

digital forms completed by young people and parents/carers

New forms created

6

new HealthForms questionnaires
created in 2024-25

Year Groups Taking Part

  • Reception
  • Year 6
  • Year 7
  • Year 9
  • Year 11

Accessibility

72,993

respondents used the accessibility toolbar for text-to-speech, reading and translation support.

Feedback from a Young Person

“I think it’s a good way for students to get that first step to get help if they need it…this survey gives an opportunity to ask for help without really having to ask for help.”

Feedback from a School

“The relationship that we’ve had between our school nurse service and us as a school has improved through this process.”

Evidence

Evaluating the Digital Health Contact (DHC): A school-based online health and wellbeing screening tool.

Feedback from a School Nurse

“I’ve picked up children that have had no support in the past, not even told their parents, schools or anybody. So, we are picking up young people that otherwise would have continued to escalate further.”

Here’s a selection of our partners…

 

View all Spotlights >