Children’s health risks becoming an afterthought, warn charities and Royal Colleges
MEDIA RELEASE – MONDAY 4 NOVEMBER 2024 (Children’s health risks becoming an afterthought, warn charities and Royal Colleges)
· Major new funding for NHS is announced by Chancellor, but government fails to set out how investment will address huge delays in children’s health services.
· Future of previous government’s flagship early years programme also unclear, despite government’s commitment to a ‘prevention first’ approach to health.
· Over 50 children’s charities and Royal Colleges set out new Roadmap for the NHS to meet the government’s manifesto commitment to ‘healthiest generation of children ever’.
Despite the government’s manifesto commitments to ‘the healthiest generation ever’ and ‘prevention first’ approach to health, a coalition of charities and Royal Colleges is warning that children risk becoming an afterthought in action to tackle waiting lists, with no clarity on how major new investment in the NHS will be spent on children’s health services. Children’s hospital waitlists have grown to a record high, at times growing at double the rate of the adult waiting times.i
In their Roadmap for the Healthiest Generation of Children Ever (published today), the Health Policy Influencing Group (HPIG) is calling for all NHS funding announcements to be explicit about the proportion of spend allocated to children. Last week’s Budget failed to deliver on this front, and now the coalition are calling for the government to urgently set out how much of this new investment will directly support children’s health services.
In addition, the future of the previous government’s flagship early years health programme, Start for Life, is in the balance. The Start for Life programme provides evidence-informed services to parents and carers from conception to a child’s second birthday. This includes support with maternal mental health, speech and language, and infant feeding. Despite its commitment to a ‘prevention first’ approach, the government is currently unable to confirm if this programme will receive any further funding next year.
HPIG is calling for an immediate commitment to ongoing to Start for Life funding, as there is compelling evidence that high-quality early years services can improve the wellbeing of babies and young children, boost future opportunities, and prevent ill health later in life. HPIG is seeking urgent clarity on the government’s plans to support this important pillar of prevention-first approaches to child health.
Further, the coalition sets out recommendations for a fundamental re-prioritisation of children within the NHS, including:
· Explicit metrics for improving child health to be included in the government’s Health Mission, and making babies, children and young people a central pillar of the forthcoming Ten Year Plan.
· The restoration of key preventive services, including health visiting and school nursing.
· A new elective recovery standard for children’s health services (including community services), so that 100% of children are seen within the 18-week target by the end of this Parliament.
Amanda Allard, Co-Chair of the Children and Young People’s Health Policy Influencing Group, said:
“Babies, children and young people make up around 25% of the population, yet they are far too often overlooked in national decision-making on health. The Budget was a missed opportunity to set out how major new investment in the NHS will improve struggling child health services, including in the earliest years. Children will only be a priority in the NHS if we get leadership from the very top, and our Roadmap for the Healthiest Generation of Children Ever sets out how they can deliver this.”
APPG for Children Co-Chair Munira Wilson MP said:
“This Roadmap provides clear direction for how this government can address the challenges in the health system by not only centring the needs of children and families but also ensuring that their voice is at the heart of any future plans. A health system that does not prioritise the needs of all children will not address the long-standing systemic issues that underly the health of our nation today.”
Media contact: please email media@ncb.org.uk.
About the Children and Young People’s Health Policy Influencing Group (HPIG)
The Children and Young People’s Health Policy Influencing Group (HPIG) is a strong, independent voice advocating for improvements to the health of babies, children and young people. As a group of influential charities and Royal Colleges, we look to ensure that the particular and unique health needs of babies, children and young people are a focus for the health system. For more information visit this website.
The healthiest generation of children ever: A roadmap for the health system
