Brain tumour accounts for a quarter of all childhood cancers and is the leading cause of cancer related deaths in children. Initial symptoms can be misleading and is often misinterpreted as being caused by a less serious childhood illness. Available statistics show that it takes almost three times longer for the brain tumour in children to get diagnosed in the United Kingdom in comparison to other developed countries. Head Smart campaign was launched in the UK in 2011 with an aim to decrease the time from the onset of symptoms to diagnosis; initial results have been highly encouraging. Community practitioners play an important role in not only identifying symptoms (by following Head Smart symptom card) and selecting patients for reassurance, review or early referral but also by providing valuable support to the family post diagnosis in the community.

A review of the literature revealed that the overarching risk to children and young people around the time of expulsion from school was social exclusion. Factors such as gender, antisocial behaviour, crime, drug taking and suicide were also identified as risks. The effects of the increased use of short-term and in-house exclusions, and poor parental control, also emerged within this area. In considering application to practice, the specialist community public health nurse (SCPHN) needs to work as part of a multidisciplinary team offering targeted support to those most vulnerable, together with preventive work via the Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) curriculum.

Prescribing is an essential element of the health visitor's role. However, in one inner-city locality prescribing in practice was evaluated to be at a low level. A number of barriers to prescribing were identified through a focus group. A project to support health visitors was planned and delivered. The project involved clinical updates and improvement to the registration process, thereby reducing delays for practitioners in getting prescribing pads. The result was that prescribing confidence improved and prescribing activity increased.

Comfort Zone for Children is an intervention that practitioners in a range of settings can use in their work with parents, with the aim of enhancing parental emotional attunement to their child. This article describes the development and evaluation of the intervention using preliminary outcomes, focus groups and interviews with staff and parents. The ongoing development of the intervention in the light of the feedback and future development is discussed.