A NEW Text-A-Nurse service has been launched to provide young people with a secure and confidential text messaging service to a school nurse for advice and support.
The service is aimed at 11 to 19-year-olds and will be delivered by the School Nursing Teams.
Welcoming the new initiative, Education Minister Peter Weir said: “The emotional health and wellbeing of children and young people has never been more important.
"School nurses will provide help on a range of issues, including emotional health and wellbeing, alcohol and drugs, sexual health, bullying and general health issues.
“During these difficult times when many children and young people have suffered from being out of an education setting for prolonged periods of time, it is more important than ever that they know they can talk to someone confidentially about their concerns.”
Text-A-Nurse is manned by a team of school nurses between the hours of 9am-5pm, Monday to Friday (excluding Bank Holidays). They will respond to all messages within 24 hours, between Monday to Friday.
The Western Trust Text-A-Nurse number is 07480 635984.
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