THE health of the Thornhill community is set to improve, thanks to a new team of health experts in the area.

A new Health Care Team is being introduced to the city, specifically to work with young families in the Thornhill area, and is to be based at The Thornhill Clinic in Farringford Road.

The team has been part-funded by the New Deal for Communities (NDC) Programme and includes health visitors, midwives, a speech therapist, childcare workers and a community school health nurse.

Current services include a twice-weekly baby clinic, home visits from midwives, parenting classes and a community school nurse who works in partnership with families, young people and schoolchildren.

It is hoped the creation of the new health team will help to develop these specialist services and enable young families in Thornhill to have much greater access to health and childcare facilities.

People were able to meet members of the team at a special meet and greet session at the clinic.

Pat Hawkins, family support programme leader for Southampton City Primary Care Trust, said: "This is great news for Thornhill.

"People will now have specialist health services on their doorstep instead of having to travel across the city and the new team will be dedicated to the assessing and meeting the needs of the Thornhill community."

Peter Hunt, deputy NDC partnership co-ordinator, added: "This team will have a significant and positive impact on the health of families within Thornhill.

"New Deal for Communities is happy to support this work, as part of our family support programme.

"By helping the children of today, we hope to enable a healthier population for tomorrow in Thornhill."