Community child health

Community child health doctors work with vulnerable groups of children, including those with developmental disorders and disabilities, complex behavioural presentations, and at risk of abuse or are being abused. Find out more about this sub-specialty.

Course

Neonatal & Paediatric ECG & Arrhythmia Course

21 January 2026

This is a basic plus course that will upskill clinicians and allied health professionals in neonatal and paediatric ECG interpretation and relevant management

Academic medicine

Anaesthesia

Cardiovascular

Child and adolescent mortality

Community child health

Emergency medicine

General paediatrics

Intensive care medicine

News

RCPCH responds to Kingdon Review of children’s hearing services in England

10 November 2025

On Monday 10 November, the Kingdon review of children’s hearing services in England. RCPCH gave evidence to the review and our response to its publication is below.

Document

Project AEGIS - advancing equity for children and young people seeking asylum and refugees

Project AEGIS is an innovative, multidisciplinary, mixed methods research project, with co-creation with children and young people at its centre. AEGIS aims to answer critical questions about the health, education and social care outcomes of children and young people seeking asylum and refugees (CYP...

Community child health

Resource

Health, Social Care and Sport Committee (Scottish Parliament): Inquiry into ADHD and ASD Pathways and Support - consultation response

In August 2025, we responded to the Scottish Parliament’s Health, Social Care and Sport Committee inquiry into pathways and support for children and young people with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Below is a short summary, with our full response ...

Community child health

Health policy

Resource

Collaborative Healthcare in Northern Ireland: Delivering the services children need in the community

This report, published in June 2025, outlines how the demands on community paediatrics in Northern Ireland have increased significantly in recent times, with long waiting lists to access care and ongoing support for children and young people. We ask the NI Government to deliver a community paedia...

Community child health

Community services

Health policy

Safeguarding

Resource

Collaborative Healthcare in Wales: Delivering the services children need in the community

This report, published in June 2025 (in both English and Welsh languages), outlines the devastating impact of prolonged underinvestment in community child health services on children, young people and families across Wales. We ask the Welsh Government to direct health boards, local authorities and p...

Community child health

Community services

Health policy

Safeguarding

Topic page

Strengthening community child health services

Services in all four nations of the UK are facing significant challenges in delivering care to children and their families. We have been analysing data where available and gathering insights from our members, and are calling for change.

Resource

Collaborative healthcare in England: Delivering the services children need in the community

RCPCH has long called for a greater focus on and investment in children’s community health services, which support some of our most vulnerable children and their families. The latest available data covering March 2025 shows that more than 314,000 children and young people are waiting for community h...

Community child health

Document

Our campaign to strengthen community child health services - about

Against a backdrop of growing demand for services, our UK-wide campaign highlights the breadth and scope of the community child health specialty to decision-makers. We make recommendations in each UK nation on improving access and equity, adapting models of care, supporting the workforce and usi...

Community child health

Community services

Public affairs and campaigning

Resource

Collaborative Healthcare in Scotland: Delivering the services children need in the community

This report, published in May 2025, puts a spotlight on community child health services in Scotland, addressing challenges and providing recommendations to strengthen community paediatric services. We urge the Scottish Government and health boards to publish consistent and uniform community paediatr...

Community child health