Operating as part of the integrated children’s additional needs (ICAN) service, we enable the provision of clinical services to meet local and government standards, targets and developments.

The service provides support in the organisation of clinics, administration of records and appointments, information collection and reporting, including:

• birth notifications and maintaining core data on the whole child population
• personal child health records
• immunisations
• screening programmes such as newborn bloodspot screening (including failsafe arrangements), newborn hearing screening, newborn and infant physical examination, school vision screening in reception and hearing screening in Year 1
• child health promotion programmes
• The National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP)
• looked after children (children in care)
• safeguarding children and child death functions
• response to serious incidents, public health incidents and unexpected events
• information governance and information sharing
• storage and retention

Who’s it for?

We work on behalf of every child living in, schooled in, or with a GP in Leeds. Care isn’t directly provided as this is an administrative support function.

Referrals

Most births are notified to us directly by midwives. Where this is not the case, please contact the child health service in the first instance. Children moving into the city are either notified by any health professional or directly by their parent or carer as well as by their previous Child Health Department (where this was in England).

If you have given birth unassisted there is a new national process from April 2025 for checking and issuing NHS numbers guidance:

• Guidance on managing birth notifications following an unassisted birth