As part of our 2024 Prioritising Public Services series, MV's discussion paper Shifting the Dial on Children's Health Outcomes looks at how tackling disparities in children's health outcomes requires collaboration between system and place partners.
Improving the health of children is a critical priority for our country and one of the top issues for Integrated Care Boards. But the NHS alone cannot address the challenge when most of the wider determinants of health sit outside the traditional boundaries of healthcare.
As part of our Prioritising Public Services series, this month we’re placing the spotlight on Children’s Health and exploring how more effective local partnerships can improve outcomes.
Our discussion paper - Shifting the Dial on Children's Health Outcomes - argues that new forms of leadership and collaboration are needed across organisations working in social welfare, housing, the environment and education, as well as healthcare.
Recent reports from the Association of Directors of Children's Services and
Academy of Medical Sciences share our concern about the lack of prominence given to children health within government, and the difficulties of having responsibility for family policy spread across multiple government departments and agencies.
Our paper presents a framework for action aimed at system and place leaders, which is intended to help local areas develop a strategy that prioritises what is best for children. The framework sets five building blocks for approaching change:
Leadership firmly on the same page
Identifying and engaging stakeholders
Deciding priorities
Shared and accessible data
Delivery structures and measuring data
Download the report
For more on MV's work on Prioritising Public Services click here.