Facing the Future

In December 2010 the College published Facing the Future: Standards for Paediatric Services, which outlines 10 minimum standards for acute, general paediatric care. These standards are intended to support a safe and sustainable quality paediatric service for children and young people. Each standard is accompanied by an explanation of what the standard aims to achieve, and how the standard was composed.

Facing the Future: Standards for Paediatric Services (PDF, 322KB, 13 pages)

In April 2011 Facing the Future: A Review of Paediatric Services modelled the potential implications of these standards for paediatric services in the UK. The report maps the current acute service configuration in the UK, which inadequately serves the current and future needs of children and young people.

Facing the Future proposes possible solutions to these problems, and imagines three possible scenarios for the configuration of inpatient units. The first of these is that nothing changes, which is no option at all. A second envisions moderate reconfiguration, and a third in which there is ‘maximum’ reconfiguration. The latter two options involve the conversion of a number of very small inpatient units to Short Stay Paediatric Assessment Units (SSPAUs), with alternative provision made for other units which would close.

The workforce implications of these scenarios are also explored and concludes that in order to deliver safe and sustainable services the current UK consultant workforce needs to expand from 3,084 WTE consultants to between 4,488 and 4,853 WTE consultants depending on which reconfiguration model is adopted. It also recommends the increased involvement of children’s nurses and GP trainees in some aspects of care.

Facing the Future: A Review of Paediatric Services  (PDF, 370KB, 50 pages)