You can download our 'Voice of the Nation' reports at the bottom of this page. You'll find our:
- colourful executive summary
- plain text report, and
- data reports
We are 25% of the population and 100% of the future
Welcome to our page!
We are RCPCH &Us Volunteers: Aiden, Bryn, Demi, Hanin, Hrutika, Prayksha, Natalia, Niamh and Sohan and we have been looking at the results from 3000 children and young people across the UK who have told us what matters to them in the last year.
We volunteer our time along with thousands of others across the UK, to help improve health services, health care and children and young people’s health. Why? Because we matter, our voices count and we have a right to have access to good health services and support to be healthy, happy and well.
We hope that you can use the information in the reports, the associated consultation responses and highlights below to make a difference for children and young people in your work, community and life.
Our priorities
From looking at all the responses, the following four areas really stood out to us as being important for services and workers to focus on. The areas are:
- Voice and rights
89% of children and young people said they want to be involved in sharing their ideas to improve the NHS. 85% wanted to help with training doctors and healthcare workers, with 95% saying doctors and healthcare workers should receive training on understanding children rights in health. Ensuring health services include children and young people, will help to make them better for the people using it.
- Help to be healthy, happy and well
Having access to help before things become a big problem, more health education and support to live a healthy lifestyle is important to children and young people. 80% want this to be done together with health, education and in the community so there is help outside of the clinic too. Being able to meet other children and young people with the same experiences is a big help!
- Accessing healthcare
95% of children and young people wanted to make sure there was equal access to good care for all, no matter what your background. 94% said that we should speed up getting treatment and being able to see someone who can help. 92% of children and young people wanted health services to be easier to find, understand and use.
- The way healthcare is provided
Being able to see the same doctors, having consistent care and help for mental health as well as your physical health was seen as being important. Getting involved in training doctors and healthcare workers, and creating safe spaces to speak directly to children and young people, trusting them and their lived experience, will help to create the best possible healthcare workers and support services for children and young people.
How you can help
We've created a poster below that you can put up at work, or take to your health appointments to help start conversations about improve health experiences, care and services together. We'd love you to:
• make sure children and young people’s needs and wishes are remembered in the planning of health services
• actively promote and embed children’s rights (UNCRC) in health services
• speak up for what matters for children and young people by using this report.
We are here to help you with all of this! We have got resources to support your engagement in clinic or to help develop your skills, learning opportunities for the child health workforce through the Engagement Academy and you can always get in touch to have a chat with our team by emailing and_us@rcpch.ac.uk.
Looking for more data?
We have been sharing what matters to children and young people to NHS England and the Department for Health and Social Care. Take a look at the RCPCH &Us responses to:
- The Medical Training Review: 545 children and young people in England
- The 10-Year Plan: including our organisation response and insights from workshops in England
- Results from the nations: coming soon
In addition to the summary reports above, we have detailed data packs. To enquire about how to access these, please contact and_us@rcpch.ac.uk.
Reflecting on our 10th birthday!
RCPCH &Us started in 2015 and since then, over 16,000 children and young people have shared their time to help improve child health services, experiences and policy across the UK. Celebrations started at the RCPCH Conference in Glasgow in 2025 and ran until the RCPCH Conference in Birmingham in 2026.
See how we celebrated #AndUs10 and find more resources.
Embedding Voice of the Nation Insights into the 2026 State of Child Health (SOCH)
We believe that children and young people have the right to inform policy and practice, collectively and individually as part of their Article 12 right under the UNCRC. A rights-based approach shapes our practice in how RCPCH engages with children and young people and how we take these rights into action through creating spaces for children and young people to share their voice and views to the right audiences and create meaningful influence and change. We use the Lundy Model, the UNICEF Rights Based Approach and follow the RCPCH Engagement Standards as frameworks to meaningfully involve children and young people in improving child health.
- Approach and analysis
The State of Child Health programme is no different, with 2026 seeing the first ever child and youth led indicator being developed. Grounded in the lived experiences of children and young people, using insights from the Voice of the Nation responses, we have been able to create a rights-based engagement approach for the State of Child Health. Analysis of the Voice of the Nation insights highlighted five priority issues most frequently raised by children and young people across the UK. These issues were:
• Support for your emotional health and wellbeing
• Support for your physical health
• Support to feel confident and ready to manage booking your appointments, get your prescriptions or visit health services on your own
• Giving your ideas and getting involved in shaping health services to meet your needs
• Getting the right help, at the right time from the right health worker, wherever you are in the UK
which were added into a State of Child Health UK-wide ballot. The ballot paper was shared with groups, organisations, hospitals, schools and directly with children and young people, so that they could vote on the issue that mattered most to them. This process refined the Voice of the Nation evidence base through a priority setting process to create a further data set.
This approach demonstrates a clear commitment to a rights-based approach embedding children and young people’s voices at every stage, from priority setting through to data analysis and policy development.
You’ll be able to read their indicator and chapter from mid July 2026 when the State of Child Health launches.