Supporting Your Child’s Health and Happiness
From your General Practitioner (GP) Practice in Brent
We’re inviting children aged 6 to 10 years old to attend a comprehensive, proactive health check right here at your GP practice. This is part of a new, targeted initiative in Brent to ensure every child gets the best start and to tackle health inequalities in our community.
What is the Healthy Child Clinic?
This is a face-to-face appointment with a clinician at the practice. It’s designed to be a thorough and holistic health assessment for your child.
We’ll use this time to:
- Check on your child’s overall health and development.
- Identify any potential or unrecognised health issues early on, like undiagnosed asthma or mental health concerns.
- Connect you with local support services for health and wellbeing, housing, or financial worries.
What Happens During the Appointment?
The check-up covers key areas of your child’s health and the wider factors that influence it10:
| Area of Health | What We’ll Do | Next Steps/Support Offered |
| Physical Health | Check height and weight and assess their growth. Screen for their level of physical activity. | Referral to Beezee Bodies Family Programmes for overweight/obese children. |
| Asthma Screening | Ask a short series of questions to check for common asthma symptoms (like wheezing or coughing). | If we suspect asthma, we’ll book a follow-up review for further testing |
| Mental Wellbeing | A simple screening for mental health and wellbeing (covering family, friendships, bullying, screen time, and sleep) | Provide advice and signposting, and book a review if the screening is positive. See below for more support. |
| Immunisation Status | Review their vaccination records | Book them in for any necessary catch-up immunisations if required |
| Wider Support | Ask simple questions about your family’s housing situation (including damp or mould) and if you have any worries about food or finances | Offer referral to a Social Prescribing Link Worker (SPLW) and give you a helpful leaflet with key support contacts |
| Household Safety | Ask about household smoking status (including shisha and chewing tobacco). | Offer signposting to Stop Smoking London and local support for those who are eligible |
| Parent/Carer Check | A brief check on your own welfare, exploring any concerns you might have | Signposting to appropriate local services |
Why are we running these clinics?
In Brent, a significant number of children face health inequalities, including high rates of childhood obesity (43% of children have an unhealthy weight by year 6) and poor dental health (46% of children starting school have at least one decayed, missing, or filled tooth). This check-up is designed to proactively find and address these needs early on.
This is a targeted programme, focusing first on families in the most deprived areas of Brent (Core20 postcodes), to help reduce health inequalities and ensure fairness for every child.