Maternity, Children and Young People Programme - February 2019

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Children and Young People update from Helen Riley, Senior Responsible Officer for Children and Young People

Following a recognition that a greater focus needed to be given to children and young people, the decision was made to bring Maternity, Children and Young People together as a single programme.

This part off the programme is led by myself, Helen Riley, and to kick start our work a scoping meeting was held in October 2018 which included over 30 people representing a range of Together We’re Better partners. There was good clinical engagement at the event, including paediatricians, primary care and NHS providers, alongside Staffordshire County Council, Stoke-on-Trent City Council and the voluntary and community sector.

At the meeting we reviewed the Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Joint Strategic Needs Assessment which provides a strong evidence base on the health and social care need across the population – more information on this is available here. The session also provided an opportunity to understand the existing partnerships, strategies and Together We’re Better work programmes that have a focus on improving health outcomes for children and young people.

Following the workshop, a task and finish group was formed that has recommended the following priorities:

• Reduce inappropriate demand in children’s health and social care services with a focus on the most vulnerable (looked after children, children in need of protection)
• Embed a preventative approach with a focus on early years, positive parenting and early interventions
• Work across the system to improve the pathways and transition points for children with complex health needs.

Our next steps are as follows:

• Consult with children, young people and parents
• Engage with wider partners and stakeholders to confirm our priorities and identify leads for each priority and project plans
• Review governance options by:
  • Developing a newly formed governance structure to lead the programme
  • Building on existing children and families partnership arrangements through the two local authority statutory Health and Wellbeing Boards. This would require clinical and health leadership and wider systems engagement.