Maternity, Children and Young People Programme - February 2019
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.