Health policy

pile of books.JPGThe RCPCH policy team supports members and officers in making and shaping policy affecting health services for children and young people.


The policy team's work encompasses both health policy and child protection. Subscribe to our policy e-bulletin for a regular summary of our work: email the Health Policy team to recieve our updates.

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To view our policy priorities, visit our 'about' page.

Or view our health policy consultation responses here.

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Updates  

 

April 2013

View the April 2013 health policy e-bulletin(PDF, 77KB, 2 pages)

Back to Facing the Future: An audit of acute paediatric service standards in the UK
Last month the RCPCH published Back to Facing the Future, its report on the 10 acute paediatric service standards published in April 2011. The report received widespread press coverage and is available on our website.
 
The RCPCH would like to thank those who participated in the audit. The RCPCH has produced bespoke briefings for every hospital that responded to the audit. If you are a clinical director and are interested in your hospital’s performance, please email the team. The RCPCH is also making available the audit tools that it used so that units can carry out their own internal audits. Please request these from the team.
Commissioning a good child health service

The RCGP, in partnership with RCPCH and RCN, has published a guide for commissioners on what a good child health service should provide. The guidance is primarily targetted at nascent Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) and is available to read here.

Child Health in the UK: The Future

11-12 April 2013 saw the RCPCH’s inaugural workforce planning conference held in Manchester. Almost 200 delegates attended and heard from a range of speakers including Dr Jackie Cornish, the new National Clinical Director for Children, Young People and Transition to adulthood and Professor Ian Lewis, Co-chair Children and Young People’s Health Outcomes Forum.

The presentations can be found hereand the College will be following up with a set of action points for workforce planning for child health.

March 2013

View the March 2013 health policy e-bulletin(PDF, 103KB, 3 pages)

Francis Inquiry consultation
The government published its initial response to The Report of The Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Public Inquiry on Tuesday 26 March. It makes some significant announcements for the NHS, including the appointment of a Chief Inspector of Hospitals, a refocused Care Quality Commission and the publication of a single aggregated score for each hospital, with the possibility in time to “drill down to information at a department, specialty, care group and condition-specific level”. Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt MP’s Written Ministerial Statement is available to read here, and the full response here.
 
Following the publication last month of Robert Francis QC’s report into the failings in care at Mid Staffs between 2005 and 2009, the College has considered the report’s recommendations and implications for its work and wider paediatrics. RCPCH has produced a summary of the report and is consulting with its members on our formal response. To complete the survey, please click here (RCPCH member number required).”
New national guidance for safeguarding children
The Department for Education has published Working Together to Safeguard Children 2013, which replaces the previous edition and acts as revised statutory guidance on safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. The single document is substantially shorter than previous editions and aims to cover the legislative requirements and expectations for all agencies and professionals. 
 
The NHS Commissioning Board have also recently published Safeguarding Vulnerable People in the Reformed NHS: Accountability and Assurance Framework which builds on Working Together and provides more detailed advice on how NHS organisations can fulfil their responsibilities and this should be read by all health professionals in conjunction with the statutory guidance.
RCPCH joins health professionals in tackling health inequalities

Along with 18 other health professional bodies, the RCPCH has committed to reduce health inequalities in Working for Health Equity: The Role of Health Professionals, the recently published document from the UCL Institute for Health Equity, led by Professor Sir Michael Marmot. Children have no control over the socioeconomic conditions into which they are born, making them vulnerable and entirely dependent on others in the first stages of their lives. Their experiences, decision-making and lifestyle choices are all heavily influenced by the people and environment that surrounds them and poverty has a significant impact on the material living standards and the general well-being of children, in addition to their opportunities and chances.

Paediatricians should be well-equipped to not only recognise problems that indicate child poverty and health inequalities, but also to intervene and treat these problems as early as possible to prevent long term consequences to health.Tackling these inequalities will help to give children the best possible start in life and the ability to maximise their capabilities. The College aims to take steps in the areas of awareness, training and development within the health profession, public and patient awareness, and promotion and advocacy.

February 2013

View the February 2013 health policy e-bulletin(PDF, 76KB, 3 pages)

Francis inquiry finally published

The inquiry into the failures in care at the NHS Mid Staffordshire Foundation Trust, led by Robert Francis QC, has published its final report. The report extends to three volumes, and makes 290 recommendations. The RCPCH will be producing a detailed briefing on the report from a paediatric perspective, and the executive summary is available to read here.

Government response to the Children and Young People’s Health Outcomes Forum

The RCPCH and 16 other organisations have signed a pledge to improve child health and reduce premature mortality as part of the government’s response to the Children and Young People’s Health Forum report in July 2012. The report is available to read here, and the RCPCH’s response is available to read here.

Health policy consultations

The RCPCH has responded to three policy consultations this month. The Welsh Government held a consultation as it sought to collect views on whether there should be a public health bill in Wales; the Department for Work and Pensions and Department for Education jointly held a consultation to consider inclusion of a multidimensional measure of child poverty; and the Home Office also held a consultation on alcohol strategy, in which they have proposed further measures to reduce excessive drinking.

View our responses

January 2013

View the January 2013 health policy e-bulletin (PDF, 80 KB, 3 pages)

Child Health in the UK | The Future, 11 - 12 April 2013, University of Manchester
At a time of economic pressure, the NHS is undergoing some of the biggest changes since its inception. Our actions will be crucial to safeguarding the safety and quality of the services we provide for the next decade.
 
The conference will stimulate new thinking on how we can build a better and more sustainable health service for children.
 
Specialised services consultation
The College has responded to the NHS Commissioning Board’s consultation on the commissioning of specialised services. The response builds on consultation with a number of the College’s special interest groups, many of whom have already contributed to the development of service standards. The original consultation is available to read here.
 
View the response (PDF, 94KB, 5 pages)
Consultation on the NHS Constitution
RCPCH has responded to the DH’s consultation on strengthening the NHS Constitution, including proposals to emphasize patient choice and involvement, responsibilities and rights of patients and staff, a ‘duty of candour’ and the importance of both physical and mental health. The College supports the main changes, restating previous messages but stressing also that children and young people, parents and carers should have more opportunities for involvement and consultation.
 

December 2012

View the December 2012 health policy e-bulletin (PDF, 77KB, 2 pages)

RCPCH Annual Lecture
The RCPCH hosted its inaugural Christmas lecture on 10 December. The College invited Professor Richard Wilkinson, author of The Spirit Level: Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better, to speak to around 80 guests and members. Highlights of the presentation will be available on the RCPCH’s website shortly.
RCPCH releases position statement on Vitamin D
The RCPCH has produced a position statement on vitamin D in its first steps to increase awareness of vitamin D deficiency amongst both health professionals and the public. The statement also highlights calls for further research in the links between the vitamin and bone health, as well as further surveillance to monitor the prevalence of deficiency. 
 

November 2012

View the November 2012 health policy e-bulletin (PDF, 105KB, 4 pages)

NHS Commissioning Board guidance on specialised services

The NHS CB has published its latest guidance on the commissioning of specialised services, most of which will be the responsibility of the Board following the recommendationsof the Clinical Advisory Group for Prescribed Services in September. Securing equity and excellence in commissioning specialised servicesdescribes the commissioning structure for specialised services and how this will integrate with Strategic Clinical Networks (including those for Women and Children) and Local Area Teams, as well as how they will engage with patient engagement and clinical input.

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Facing the Future Audit update

Thank you to everyone who submitted a response from their Trust to the first stage of the Facing the Future audit. The team have now moved on to the second stage of ‘deep-dive’ unit visits across the UK, which we anticipate completing in early December. We will be publishing the final national report of the audit in Spring 2013, alongside bespoke briefings for each Trust that responded to our request.

View more information on the audit and Facing the Future

Guidance on under-16 pregnancy checks

Determining pregnancy status in young female patients under 16 years of age is an area that clinicians may find difficult.  Whilst regulators state it is required before surgical or radiological procedures the ethical, practical and contextual considerations can compromise compliance with good practice.

This practical guide sets out the considerations and approaches that NHS organisations may consider when developing their policies in this area.  Supported by all the major professional clinical bodies and backed with evident statistics and tools it aims to support local members in brokering conversations and agreement around this sensitive process. 

See more about pregnancy checks

September 2012

View the September 2012 health policy e-bulletin (PDF, 88KB, 4 pages)

Ministerial reshuffle and pictorial representation of the reforms

Jeremy Hunt MP has replaced Andrew Lansley as Secretary of State for Health in the Prime Minister’s autumn reshuffle. Hunt has a new ministerial team to work with as well, with Norman Lamb, Anna Soubry and Dr Daniel Poulter stepping into the roles of Minister for Care Services, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Public Health and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Health respectively. Dr Poulter will have responsibility for children’s health.

Simultaneously, the Department of Health has produced a visual representation of the new structures in the NHS from April 2013:

August 2012

View the August 2012 health policy e-bulletin (PDF, 69KB, 3 pages)

July 2012

View the July 2012 health policy e-bulletin (PDF, 84KB, 5 pages)

 

shutterstock_57353584 quality highlighted WEB.jpgRecent publications

For child protection publications, click here. 

Looked after children 2012 

The RCPCH and RCN have published an intercollegiate role framework Looked after children: knowledge, skills and competences of health care staff. Visit the looked after children web page for more information. 

Standards for Children and Young People in Emergency Care Settings 2012

Visit the emergency care webpage for more information

RCPCH Postition Statements

Download our Vitamin D, Childhood Obesity and Breastfeeding position statements here.

Bringing Networks to Life: An RCPCH guide to implementing clinical networks 2012

Visit our networks web page for more information. 

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Children and young people's health - where next? 2011

This publication, produced by the RCPCH, NHS Confederation and the Office of Public Management (OPM), builds on a stakeholder event with sector leaders in early September 2011, and presents a consensus view on the impact of the recent health reforms on children’s health, as well as recommendations on how they might be improved. Download the document (PDF, 616KB, 24 pages)

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Involving Children and Young People in Health Services 2011

Accompanying the publication children and young people's health: where next?, is a challenging new report ensuring the views and experiences of children and young people are at the heart of NHS reforms. See the webpage  

 

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 Auditing the Facing the Future standards for acute general paediatrics

The College is currently auditing the 10 service standards outlined in Facing the Future, as promised in the original document (p.6, April 2010). We wrote to NHS trust chief executives this summer, before sending out the survey to clinical directors two weeks later. If you would like more information, please email Peder Clark, Health Policy Lead.

Intercollegiate Healthcare Standards for Children and Young People in Secure Settings (CYPSS)

RCPCH is leading a new project, funded by the Youth Justice Board, to develop and implement a set of standards for the planning and provision of healthcare for children and young people in secure settings. Visit the secure settings web page for more information. 

 

For more information on any of the content of this page, please email the health policy team. 

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Last published on 7 May 2013
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Associated Publications, Resources and Links

RCPCH Link Sites

ASSET Trainees' assessment tool

BPSU British Paediatric Surveillance Unit

CPD CPD diary for non training grades

E-Portfolio Trainees' online learning tool