The Government is also confirming the final five areas to receive investment from the Family Hubs Transformation Fund, which will transition services which used to operate under the Sure Start banner over to the Family Hub model. This work comes off the back of the Early Years Healthy Development Review, chaired by the Rt Hon Andrea Leadsom MP.
RCPCH Officer for Health Improvement, Dr Helen Stewart said:
The importance of early years in establishing the life chances of children across the life course cannot be overstated. We know that access to joined up, wrap-around support is integral to ensuring all children have the best start in life. Currently children living in households in the lowest socio-economic groups have much worse health outcomes than other children. These health inequalities are insidious and can destroy a child’s future and stop them from reaching their full potential. The announcement for funding in the Family Hub is welcome, but in order to make meaningful change we must look towards tackling health inequalities and the poverty that drives them.
Health inequalities are estimated to cost the NHS an extra £4.8bn a year and recent findings from the ONS show that since early 2020, almost 400,000 people exited the jobs market with long-term health problems. The Government knows there is a problem, yet we still have no clear strategy that considers the role of every department and every available policy in tackling health inequalities, including those that start in childhood.