Tuesday 9th April - Community Paediatrics to FNP and back to CELCIS

It was a busy but fascinating day once again. First we headed out to the Gorbals Community Health Centre to meet with community paediatrician, Alison Rennie. She generously gave of her time in between patients to discuss the challenges of assessment and services for children with developmental differences. They were, in fact, quite similar to Australia. About 80% of referrals had the question of whether this may be autism and they are looking more at Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder too. We were able to share some ideas and experiences. I also noticed that their new centre had consulting rooms deigned with a low stimulus environment for children with sensory issues like those with autism. They had carpet on floor, minimal equipment in the room and calm room colours. Regular rooms had typical colour, desks, toys and vinyl floors.

Next we drove to Renshaw to meet with Anne and Lynsey and hear about the Family Nurse Program. I was most impressed with their passion for the work and stories of progress in vulnerable population. These nurses are trained to follow the evidence-based program of Prof Old in USA with young women in their first pregnancy aged less than 19. The weekly or fortnightly visits in the young person’s home begin when the pregnancy is confirmed as proceeding and continue until the child is 2 years old – with the same nurse. This longevity and continuity provides the trust and stability needed at this crucial time so that the mother can make decisions to better prepare her to give to her child. Partners and other family members are welcome to be present in the sessions. Not only do they support the family but the network of support and supervision for the nurses is impressive as they each have a caseload of up to 25 clients which is an enormous load. The outcomes are impressive in terms of safety of the infant, developmental progress of the child and longer space to the next child. It’s a program I’ll definitely follow up on in Australia. When I visited CELCIS(Centre of Excellence for Looked After Children in Scotland) last week, they recommended I speak with Marion so I made a time to go back and meet with her this afternoon. She has the “health” portfolio, but the topics we discussed were much broader and I had more insights into how we might collaborate across agencies to support children in, or on the verge of, out of home care.

The day was not over as Sir Harry and Senga kindly invited me to their home for dinner. I met two of their daughters and enjoyed Harry’s culinary skills with an excellent 3 course meal. Then they dropped me back to my hotel. Scottish hospitality is extraordinary. I feel very fortunate and sad to be leaving Scotland after a delightful 2 1/2 weeks.