Innovator profile: Norfolk Children and Young People’s Services Just one brilliant family health website for Norfolk Norfolk Children and Young People’s Services made a digital platform for families in Norfolk that smashed its targets and became the centrepiece of system- wide development plans, as Sian Larrington, head of service, explains “Eastern ASHN really understood what we were trying to achieve and linked us with a company that specialises in community forums called Health Unlocked, which built a successful on”line forum for our site Supporting pregnancies with the Baby Buddy app We envisaged that such a platform could be continually developed to help families be proactive and self-sufficient with their health. We applied for funding from Eastern AHSN and, after some negotiation, formed a partnership with the creators of the Baby Buddy app. Our aim was to work together to create an interactive platform that would integrate with their technology. Once we’d made the website’s base structure, we brought in our colleagues at Baby Buddy to work on joint features and resources, such as our patient activation measure questionnaire. It wasn’t easy to create all the content from scratch. The sheer volume of information, videos, infographics, animations and photographs that needed to be made and signed off was rather daunting. However, one of our core principles was to make content that was relevant for people in Norfolk. That meant we wanted to create all the content ourselves, with some help from Norfolk residents. Another challenge was to make sure the platform met very high security standards, in order to secure person-sensitive data and information linked from the site, such as children’s health records. Inspiration and support Eastern AHSN helped us with the content through their experience and links to partners. For example, one of the particular features we wanted on JustOneNorfolk.nhs.uk was an online community where families could chat about their issues. Our colleagues at Eastern ASHN really understood what we were trying to achieve and linked us with a firm that specialises in community forums called Health Unlocked, which built a successful online forum for our site. In fact, our partnership with Baby Buddy was the idea of Eastern AHSN, and because of this, we managed to create lots of videos and images for their app and for our website. Without the support and encouragement of Eastern AHSN to work together, we would have struggled to launch with the website fully developed. We also recognise that the funding commitment from Eastern AHSN provided us with credibility as we promoted the site across our own professional networks. Since we launched the service last November, JustOneNorfolk.nhs.uk has gone from strength to strength. We’re constantly uploading and improving content and have sailed past our target of 100,000 website views in only six months. We’ve made the platform the digital centrepiece of a system-wide approach to children and young people in Norfolk. We’re moving into a second phase of development with other partners, including Norfolk County Council, acute trusts, pharmacies, community health providers and third-sector organisations. The site is well-used by Norfolk parents and professionals. Also, some of the parents who were part of the original filming for the site have become trust volunteers and community moderators for our Health Unlocked peer support group. Because of our success, the site has become a platform for system-wide development over the next two years, funded by our public health commissioners. We hope to build on this by understanding the impact and making it part of our core service offer, delivering system-wide outcomes. What we learned We’ve found out that a dedicated team with the right skills, who can steer the project, is immensely useful on a scheme such as this, You need a mix of skills, from project management, communications, technology, information governance, and clinical leads. But as the site has continued to develop and grow to become part of our clinical interventions, we also realised we needed a dedicated lead for the service, and have now recruited to this post. Never underestimate the complexities involved in delivering a technology project, particularly around data security. We think the key learning is really in- depth scoping at the earliest stage, but we also recommend that you engage experts (internal and external) as early as possible. The sooner you can get input and buy-in, the easier it is to build something relevant and useful that your partners will promote. Since we launched JustOneNorfolk.nhs.uk last November, the site has become the go-to health website for families in Norfolk. It is the digital focal point for families in the community and presents information in an interactive, colourful and entertaining way, with an emphasis on self-care. Prior to development of Just One Norfolk, alongside our Norfolk Public Health commissioners, our Norfolk Healthy Child Programme has been proactive in the use of new technologies. We have also implemented ChatHealth, a web-based text messaging service for young people, as well as launching an app, Just1NorfolkHealth Passport, which was co-produced with young people to provide health advice and access to health records for 16-19 year olds. However, after conversations with our service users and partners, we felt we lacked a reliable digital information source that was relevant and accessible to the Norfolk community. ● Find out more at Justonenorfolk.nhs.uk Innovator profile: Norfolk Children and Young People’s Services Norfolk Children and Young People’s Services made a digital platform for families in Norfolk that smashed its targets and became the centrepiece of system- wide development plans, as Sian Larrington, head of service, explains “Eastern ASHN really understood what we were trying to achieve and linked us with a company that specialises in community forums called Health Unlocked, which built a successful on”line forum for our site Supporting pregnancies with the Baby Buddy app We envisaged that such a platform could be continually developed to help families be proactive and self-sufficient with their health. We applied for funding from Eastern AHSN and, after some negotiation, formed a partnership with the creators of the Baby Buddy app. Our aim was to work together to create an interactive platform that would integrate with their technology. Once we’d made the website’s base structure, we brought in our colleagues at Baby Buddy to work on joint features and resources, such as our patient activation measure questionnaire. It wasn’t easy to create all the content from scratch. The sheer volume of information, videos, infographics, animations and photographs that needed to be made and signed off was rather daunting. However, one of our core principles was to make content that was relevant for people in Norfolk. That meant we wanted to create all the content ourselves, with some help from Norfolk residents. Another challenge was to make sure the platform met very high security standards, in order to secure person-sensitive data and information linked from the site, such as children’s health records. Inspiration and support Eastern AHSN helped us with the content through their experience and links to partners. For example, one of the particular features we wanted on JustOneNorfolk.nhs.uk was an online community where families could chat about their issues. Our colleagues at Eastern ASHN really understood what we were trying to achieve and linked us with a firm that specialises in community forums called Health Unlocked, which built a successful online forum for our site. In fact, our partnership with Baby Buddy was the idea of Eastern AHSN, and because of this, we managed to create lots of videos and images for their app and for our website. Without the support and encouragement of Eastern AHSN to work together, we would have struggled to launch with the website fully developed. We also recognise that the funding commitment from Eastern AHSN provided us with credibility as we promoted the site across our own professional networks. Since we launched the service last November, JustOneNorfolk.nhs.uk has gone from strength to strength. We’re constantly uploading and improving content and have sailed past our target of 100,000 website views in only six months. We’ve made the platform the digital centrepiece of a system-wide approach to children and young people in Norfolk. We’re moving into a second phase of development with other partners, including Norfolk County Council, acute trusts, pharmacies, community health providers and third-sector organisations. The site is well-used by Norfolk parents and professionals. Also, some of the parents who were part of the original filming for the site have become trust volunteers and community moderators for our Health Unlocked peer support group. Because of our success, the site has become a platform for system-wide development over the next two years, funded by our public health commissioners. We hope to build on this by understanding the impact and making it part of our core service offer, delivering system-wide outcomes. What we learned We’ve found out that a dedicated team with the right skills, who can steer the project, is immensely useful on a scheme such as this, You need a mix of skills, from project management, communications, technology, information governance, and clinical leads. But as the site has continued to develop and grow to become part of our clinical interventions, we also realised we needed a dedicated lead for the service, and have now recruited to this post. Never underestimate the complexities involved in delivering a technology project, particularly around data security. We think the key learning is really in- depth scoping at the earliest stage, but we also recommend that you engage experts (internal and external) as early as possible. The sooner you can get input and buy-in, the easier it is to build something relevant and useful that your partners will promote. Since we launched JustOneNorfolk.nhs.uk last November, the site has become the go-to health website for families in Norfolk. It is the digital focal point for families in the community and presents information in an interactive, colourful and entertaining way, with an emphasis on self-care. Prior to development of Just One Norfolk, alongside our Norfolk Public Health commissioners, our Norfolk Healthy Child Programme has been proactive in the use of new technologies. We have also implemented ChatHealth, a web-based text messaging service for young people, as well as launching an app, Just1NorfolkHealth Passport, which was co-produced with young people to provide health advice and access to health records for 16-19 year olds. However, after conversations with our service users and partners, we felt we lacked a reliable digital information source that was relevant and accessible to the Norfolk community. ● Find out more at Justonenorfolk.nhs.uk Just one brilliant family health website for Norfolk Supporting pregnancies with the Baby Buddy app Baby Buddy is a free app that enables new parents to access a range of daily, personalised self-care advice, with the aim of promoting informed and confident pregnancies and early parenting. It also provides midwives with self-care resources that they can use in their consultations to ensure mothers get the most effective support, making every contact count. The app has recently updated its resources to support mothers in Norfolk, linking to the Just One Norfolk website. There are 9,000 births in the county each year, and with some expectant mothers living in more remote areas, it can make attending check-ups, and sourcing advice on a whole range of ante and postnatal topics, more difficult. Once you factor in a bout of wintry weather, it becomes even more challenging. However, by using the quality-assured smartphone app, a woman can chart each day of her pregnancy, and access a range of advice on topics such as how to stay healthy, appointments and scans, and how to spot the early signs of labour. The support continues for six months after birth. Baby Buddy includes more than 300 short videos of new parents and professionals sharing their own experiences on anything from breastfeeding to coping with mental health issues.