Sparkbrook Children’s Zone wins national award
A project which brings expert medical care to children in the community has won a coveted national award.
The Sparkbrook Children’s Zone has won the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) Impact Prize for early careers researchers.
Set up in response to child poverty in Birmingham and the negative impacts it can have on health, our Trust helped pilot a more accessible service, offering families the dedicated, holistic support they need outside of a hospital setting.
Dr Chris Bird, Paediatric Emergency Medicine Consultant and Fran Dutton, Emergency Medicine Doctor and GP, who both work at our Children’s Hospital, along with Simarjeet Kaur and Dr Caroline Wolhuter from the housing association, GreenSquareAccord, set up the initiative.
It also involved eight local GP practices and Early Help, a family support team.
Sparkbrook Children’s Zone operated out of various inner-city locations at different times of the week – at Balsall Heath Health Centre, Sparkbrook Health & Community Centre and Fernley Medical Centre.
After launching in March 2022, it saw more than 4,000 children during an initial three-year pilot. Identified by NHS England as a great example of delivering care in the community, its funding was extended for another year, until April 2026.
“It’s about the hospital moving to the community, more preventative healthcare and addressing the social issues underlying health problems,” said Dr Bird. “You feel that you’re actually making a difference. You’re trying to get to the root of the problem.”
A team of healthcare professionals worked together to achieve the best outcomes by prioritising prevention and early intervention. It enabled them to offer advice and support across a variety of areas, including parenting, managing money, and healthy eating.
Dr Bird added: “We have a 25-minute appointment where we try to deal with everything in terms of medical issues and preventative care. When you have time to talk to families, you realise that there are social issues that might need modifying – parenting, diet, whatever.”
The programme addresses a broad range of health problems in a more focused way. “We see pretty much anything and everything. Eczema, constipation and asthma are very common,” Dr Bird continued.
“Families actually want to see a doctor. By spending time with them, examining the child, and paying close attention, we provide the reassurance they need and can avoid doing lots of expensive and unnecessary tests.”
Children usually wait less than a week for an appointment, with an average cost saving of £44 per patient compared to following the usual Primary Care Network route, according to early economic modelling.
Sparkbrook Children’s Zone also offers open sessions and workshops, focusing on specific issues like oral health, vaccine uptake and picky eating.
Dr Bird and Dr Dutton are both passionate advocates for the benefits of this model and hope to see it scaled up across the city, targeting other areas of high deprivation.
To learn more about Sparkbrook Children's Zone and allied work, https://familywellbeingzone.org.uk/