Final Report > Chapter 29: The Care of Children > A framework for the future of children's healthcare services

A framework for the future of children's healthcare services

19 We state at the outset that we recognise that the health of children depends on a variety of factors, of which healthcare is only one. Thus we welcome the efforts under way on a broader social front to improve education and to tackle child poverty, particularly for more vulnerable families. These will have lasting benefits for the general health of children. In parallel with these efforts, we insist that the quality of children's healthcare services must also be improved.

20 The need to agree and issue the National Service Framework (NSF) for children, on which work has recently begun, is urgent. The DoH's 1991 guidance needs to be updated and brought into line with other developments in the NHS. Furthermore, changes are taking place within the NHS, such as the rapid development of primary care groups and trusts, which will have a direct impact on children's health services. In the absence of a strategic planning framework to provide guidance on models of good practice, and to set minimum standards, important decisions on the future of healthcare delivery are still being taken in a vacuum.

21 It is evident to us that the new framework must provide an overall strategy to enable trusts and health authorities to focus on the whole range of services which, taken together, constitute children's healthcare services. The following are amongst the key issues that need to be addressed: how to achieve greater integration of hospital and community healthcare services for children; the future arrangements for acute care and for specialised services for children; how to improve the commissioning of children's healthcare services so that it is based on children's needs rather than on providers' convenience; and the need for sufficient paediatrically trained staff.