Sparkbrook Children’s Zone (SCZ), a pioneering NHS England funded community service delivered in partnership between GSA, Birmingham Children’s Hospital and South Doc Services in a local Primary Care Network of eight GP surgeries, are making progress towards making their clinics more child friendly.
SCZ provide four clinics a week in Balsall Heath, Highgate, Sparkbrook, and Fernley Medical centres which are accessible for under 16s registered with a GP in the Balsall Heath, Moseley and Sparkhill PCN.
Having noticed that children using the service could become restless whilst waiting for their appointment, the SCZ team applied for a grant from GSA to provide sensory toys appropriate for both children and young people to use. SCZ were awarded £200 from the fund and have purchased:
- Four activity balls
- Twenty fidget spinners
- Four Rubik's cubes
- Eight articulated fidget toys.
The new toys have already made a difference with a Family Support Advisor working from SCZ saying: “I observed a young boy with autism being better able to sit still thanks to the recently purchased sensory toys allowing me to speak to his parents more easily. The new toys have directly improved outcomes by creating a positive and accessible clinic experience for all children."
SCZ recently received a visit from the Participation and Co-Production Officer at SEND Birmingham who provided some initial feedback on how the team could further improve accessibility at their clinics. During the visit, SEND Birmingham underlined why it is important to engage with parents and carers with children with SEND and are supporting SCZ’s registration to receive a Co-production Bronze Award.
Simarjeet Kaur, Programme Manager at SCZ, said: “Through community consultations with families and feedback from our Youth Health Board—we know that our clinics are not always comfortable spaces for children, particularly those with SEND needs. We are aware that children and young people can become overwhelmed or restless during, in what can be, a long appointment. As a child-focused clinic, we want to do our best to help children be healthy and happy during their appointments and investing in new sensory toys is one of the ways we aim to achieve this.”
“We know there is more to be done to make our service more accessible for SEND families, and to help us along this journey we are working closely with SEND Birmingham and their Co-production team to ensure we effectively meet the needs of our families.”
Since 2022, 1494 families have received support from the medical staff within SCZ Clinics, and of this figure, 798 of them have also received Early Help support after their medical appointment.
Find out more about Sparkbrook Children’s Zone here: Sparkbrook Children's Zone