Essex Child and Family Wellbeing
The Essex Child and Family Wellbeing Service brings together a range of children’s community services. It’s provided by Virgin Care in partnership with Barnardo’s on behalf of Essex County Council and the NHS.
The Essex Child and Family Wellbeing Service, which is provided by Virgin Care in partnership with Barnardo’s, ensures that families have free and easy access to local health services in the community; whether in a local clinic, play area or in a family’s home.

We deliver broad areas of support:
Health Visiting:
e.g. antenatal contact, transition to parenthood, new baby review, maternal mental health, wellbeing and development of children under 1 year and 2-2 1/2 year reviews, support to ‘be ready for school’
Parenting Support:
e.g. breastfeeding support, school entry review and childcare confidence support
School Nursing:
e.g. support for young people in schools with wellbeing and health concerns
Family Health:
e.g. substance misuse, contraception advice, nutrition support, mental health (maternal & infant), smoking cessation
Support for ages 5-19:
e.g. dental care, review of immunisation status, support with any physical, emotional or developmental problems, provides children, parents and school staff with information on specific health issues, measuring height and weight
We also provide children’s community health services in West Essex:
- Community Paediatric Medical Services
- Designated Medical Officer
- Occupational Therapy
- Physiotherapy
- Speech and Language Therapy
- Children’s Community Nursing
- Specialist School Nursing
The focus across all our services is on making sure that everyone in Essex has the best possible start in life through community services that are accessible, high quality and meet the identified needs of children, young people and families.

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