Community child health services (or developmental paediatrics) provide a range of support to families. They promote health development, wellbeing and early intervention, support children with long term conditions and with complex care needs, and plan and implement local strategies to improve the heath of all children.
Chronic underinvestment in these services has led to increasing pressures on the community child health workforce and increasing delays in care and treatment for children who need it.
It’s time to recognise that investment is urgently needed in community services so children can receive the care and treatment they deserve in a timely manner.
Data on community child health is not published, and though all health boards responded to our Freedom of Information requests, these datasets were not consistent and sometimes incomplete. The data in our report therefore is presented as a spotlight on each health board, and should not be compared.
Our recommendations are based around five themes:
- The urgent need for data
- Creating a sustainable child health workforce
- Collaborative care
- Positive transitions to adult services
- Neurodevelopmental services
You can read about all of our recommendations, plus insights from both our members and children and young people in Wales, in our full report in English or Welsh - view or download below: