Common challenges facing health systems around the world - President's update

Since a recent visit to India, Steve considers some shared issues in paediatrics and child health around the world. The College has done lots of thinking about what's needed in England through our blueprint, response to the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill and work on the 10 Year Health Plan - and we have some great opportunities to get involved.
Steve Turner at PEDICON 2025, Hyderabad

Halfway through January already, I hope your year has started well. I had the pleasure of representing the College last week at the 62nd meeting of the Indian Academy of Paediatrics (PEDICON 2025). Swapping the winter in Aberdeen for the winter in Hyderabad was good! I was wonderfully looked after and am hugely grateful to colleagues in India for their kindness and care.

This was a busy meeting, with 12,000 delegates and up to nine parallel sessions running at any one time on the programme. The topics were very familiar and included ethical dilemmas on PICU, point of care testing, environmental impact on child health and managing childhood obesity and mental health issues. There were also updates from a UK-based clinician on TB, dengue fever and rabies. I came away with a sense that the child healthcare situation in India is remarkably similar to that in the UK.

Which resonates with a conversation I had last year with a director of public health from Iraq; major child health concerns there include obesity and mental health. Also, a conversation with a colleague from the Netherlands who was discussing increasing rota gaps and junior doctors' preference to work part-time.

So the challenges we face in the UK are common across most (it not all) healthcare systems. Many solutions have been tried and we have done a lot of thinking about what we believe is needed in England through our blueprint for child health services and work to support the new 10 Year Health Plan. Hopefully, this College thinking can be generalised to other healthcare systems.

Having worked in the NHS since 1992, I have yet to see “the answer”. And this is because the questions are multiple and relate to the challenges in providing care for patients, looking after the workforce and not blowing the budget. The current update of the Facing the Future standards of care will look at some of these issues. Notwithstanding these challenges, the three clinics I had this week reminded me how much I enjoy being a doctor. Working with children and parents has its challenges, but a job (hopefully) well done gives me huge satisfaction.   

#WDYCD4Y - What Does Your College Do for You: Join our workshop for the Change NHS exercise

In recent updates, I’ve discussed how the College is engaging with the NHS 10 Year Plan. We’ve outlined our recommendations in policy briefings, submitted responses from the College and from children and young people and encouraged you to send in your own response. We now have another opportunity for members in England to get involved!

We’re hosting an online 'workshop in a box' on Friday 31 January at lunchtime. It will be highly interactive – we’ll have breakout sessions to gather your insights so we can make a direct (and anonymised) contribution to Change NHS. Do find out more and consider registering.

Code of Practice for the Diagnosis and Confirmation of Death

A sombre but important subject. The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges has updated its Code of Practice on the diagnosis and confirmation of death. Working with an expert group, the College updated the criteria for the diagnosis of death by neurological criteria (DNC), children and adolescents, which is presented in Appendix 2. You can access the Academy’s guidance and implementation resources on our website.

We’re recruiting a Member Trustee  

You may know that our College has a Board of Trustees. The 13 trustees include four members, one of whom is about to demit. This gives you an opportunity to help shape the future of child health in the UK and globally, particularly as we embark on our ambitious 2024-27 strategy. We are looking for a passionate, strategic-minded member to work closely with our senior team to ensure the successful delivery of our mission.

If you are committed to improving child health and have the vision and skills to drive change and if you’re an Ordinary Member or Fellow anywhere in the world, I encourage you to read more and apply - and play a pivotal role in our College’s future.

Child health services planning and recovery  

The latest NHS England Elective Recovery Plan was published last week and included an explicit commitment to equitable delivery of elective services for children and young people alongside adults over the next four years. This equity is something we have been calling on government to do, so it is welcome news to see this included. Our response highlights that no child should be waiting longer than 18 weeks, so we are continuing to call for the plan to go further and faster for children, as well as for a key focus on children in the NHS 10 year plan. You can join us in our advocacy and sign the letter to the Health Secretary.

In Northern Ireland, a delegation of Ireland Executive Committee members recently met with the NI Health Minister to iterate our recommendations on strategic workforce and service transformation planning. We’ve been invited to return to discuss workforce planning and regional funding of services and the Ireland Committee delegates will present oral evidence on this to the NI Assembly Health Scrutiny Committee this June.

Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill 

The UK Government’s Bill was published on 17 December and our policy and public affairs teams were busy scrutinising the legislation over the Christmas break. It's fantastic to see a Bill that focuses on children and young people and there's a lot to be positive about. There are several areas we'd like to see revised, however, to ensure that we as a society make the most of this important opportunity for children and young people. Our recent blog post outlines the key issues of importance for us as a College and how our teams will work to secure amendments to the Bill as it progresses through Parliament.

Let us know your experiences with digital skills and solutions

Advances in technology and the evolving landscape in digital medicine will help deliver the best possible care to children and young people. But how can we best do this? We're inviting members to complete surveys to help us develop a new digital healthcare programme at the College. Find out more and complete our surveys.

A paediatrician is the new UK Scrabble Champion!

Just when I thought that I knew how clever paediatricians were, I was delighted to hear that our member Harshan Lamabadusuriya is the 2025 UK Scrabble champion. The winning board included many words I recognised, including cell, thin and gaming. But I now know that these are also valid words: viae, zerk, dawt, yoni and vide.  Every day is a school day. Many congratulations Harsan. And thanks for letting me know of your or other members’ stellar achievements, drop me a line at president@rcpch.ac.uk.   

In case you missed it!   

I was invited to speak to MPs about the importance of the UK Government’s Tobacco and Vapes Bill. It was an important opportunity to highlighting that the Bill represents a once in a generation opportunity, to protect the health and wellbeing of children and paving the way for a smoke-free era.

Best wishes,
Steve


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