We recently submitted feedback to the Government about the NHS’s ten-year plan proposals after gathering views and opinions from our members.
We are supportive of the plan and want to see the specific needs of babies, children and young people addressed. Children make up 25 per cent of the population and 100 per cent of the future.
We would like to see the youngest and most vulnerable patients at the heart of the plan and assurances that any changes designed to address adult health challenges will not impact negatively on children’s services.
These are some of the key areas we would the Government to focus on:
Data and technology
We’d like national data and analytics on child health activity and outcomes to be improved, so that we understand more about how children and young people use healthcare and to support national action on pressing child health challenges – including rising waiting lists, increasing urgent care needs and longer lengths of stay in hospital.
We want hospitals to be supported to work together on digital tools and research, and to develop new technology and treatments, such as gene therapy, at home monitoring or apps. We would welcome a national programme to expedite innovation in children’s health, to benefit all NHS patients – not just those who live close to a specialist centre.
Investing in prevention – for today’s children and tomorrow’s adults
Investing more of the NHS budget into children’s health will alleviate suffering today and prevent future health problems, reducing the overall cost burden.
We need an NHS population health strategy for children that delivers early support, diagnoses and intervention, to prevent missed developmental milestones and minimise disruption to education. Increasing support for families with sick children; those affected by health inequalities and those with poor mental health will all reduce pressures on urgent care.
We need an NHS workforce plan for paediatrics, with more investment into specialist roles and fragile services to enable the NHS to offer the best possible care to some of our youngest patients.
Moving care from hospitals
Our children and families often want more care to be local to them, but they also want to feel confident that local care will be safe and expert.
We need more paediatric trained staff in primary and community care, including more school nurses and health visitors and compulsory paediatric training for GPs.
Until there are sufficient numbers of trained staff in the community, care pathways must be integrated, with specialist support on hand where needed – including through innovative use of technology.
There also needs to be much more investment into child-appropriate facilities to enable effective local care and treatment.
Our ambition
We want our NHS to be the most caring and innovative child healthcare service in the world.
And, most importantly, we want changes that are designed to meet the needs of children, young people and families.