My Health Passport is a record for looked after children's medical and healthcare history launched in July 2018 and aims to help young people become independent in accessing health information.
It is an easy to use record of their medical and healthcare history which is designed to help them keep track and take control of their health into adulthood.
The resource was developed by Children and Family Health Surrey in consultation with the Children’s Rights and participation team at Surrey County Council, looked after children, social workers, foster carers and public health and has recently received positive feedback from young people including:
“Great size, enough information, useful plastic pockets and good noticeable colour”
“It’s useful, I like the size”
“I like the notes and appointment pages in all sections”.
From July 2018 to the end of March 2019 the passport is being provided to all looked after children aged 16 and over. Over the next two years, the passport will be made available to children aged 14 plus and new to care.
The passport includes pages to record regular health checks that all looked after children have and also useful contacts to help with their health and top tips for keeping safe and managing health conditions. It is an important source of information for both looked after children, their clinicians and carers and is a record they can take into their adult lives.
Kym New, Named Nurse Looked After Children (LAC) said: “We’re proud that Surrey now has this resource for our looked after children, but most proud that it was developed by the children. We know that this version of the health passport is only the beginning and would like to move to an electronic version in future if that’s what the children want. In the meantime, we're already taking feedback and comments to improve the next print run”.