27/01/2012
Children consulted about new health strategy
Children and young people are to be consulted this year about how their health care could be improved, it was announced yesterday.
This will lead to the development of a new "outcome strategy" for them, health secretary Andrew Lansley said.
As part of the plan, independent experts will seek the views of children, their parents and carers as well as health professionals.
Professor Ian Lewis, medical director at the Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, who will lead the work: “This is a welcome opportunity to focus on children and young people in order to ensure that the modernisation of health services work well for them."
The charity Asthma UK said the project was "really encouraging".
Chief executive Neil Churchill said: "Asthma is the most
common long-term condition in childhood and hospitalises a child every 17 minutes, so it is really encouraging to see a renewed focus on improving outcomes for children and young people within the NHS."
Mencap said it represented "real commitment" to improving services for disabled children.
Beverley Dawkins, of Mencap, said: “We know from our Death by indifference report that due to institutional discrimination in the NHS many people with a learning disability do not get
the care they need.
"We hope that this new initiative will be a positive step
in improving children's health services to meet the needs of disabled children and their families."
The NHS Confederation said the project would help to address its concerns that the reformed service would fail children through not being "properly joined up".
Jo Webber, of the Confederation, said: "This new forum faces a real challenge. We need a new framework that is compatible both with the social care and public health outcomes frameworks, the mental health strategy and wider government policy so it
genuinely works for children."
The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health said it would play a pivotal role in the forum.
The president Professor Terence Stephenson, will join the forum.
He said: "Throughout the recent changes to the NHS, the RCPCH has pushed hard to make sure that it delivers the best possible outcomes for children.
"The Children’s Forum and a robust framework for measuring outcomes is a first step to making this happen."