The Health Policy Influencing Group published an analysis of how the newly formed Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) are prioritising children and young people within their forward plans.
The analysis identified that:
- Less than half of ICB strategies refer to the needs of BCYP with major and long-term conditions
- Most ICB strategies don’t consider the current workforce capacity or capability with a lack of focus on specific practitioners
- Many ICB strategies did not identify children and young people as a distinct group up to the age of 25.
CHA trusts have been working closely with their ICB colleagues to help improve leadership and awareness of the most urgent issues facing children’s health. This can be challenging because the lower volumes of younger patients make them less visible at the ICS level.
As well as stronger local leadership, improving NHS care for children will require population health planning at a national and supra-ICS level, with bespoke payment structures and protected finding.
The CHA will continue to work with colleagues to advocate for more focus and investment across the paediatric pathway – bolstering out-of-hospital capacity to ensure children get the care they need close to home, but without dismantling fragile, under-funded and under-staffed services in acute and specialist settings.
Integrated Care Systems and the health needs of babies, children and young people (ncb.org.uk)