New NHS guidance on healthcare for children and young people in London

New NHS guidance on improving healthcare for children and young people in London was published by Healthcare for London today.

Meeting the health needs of children and young people - A guide for commissioners, sets out recommendations for improving access to NHS services for children in London.

It calls on NHS trusts to adapt to changing patterns of childhood disease in the community by investing in new community teams to better meet the needs of children and young people who are ill.

The guidance also recommends:

• establishing paediatric assessment units in all hospitals that have an A&E department to ensure children get the right care as quickly as possible
• healthcare be delivered in the home where appropriate or as close to home as possible reducing unnecessary visits to hospital
• creating multidisciplinary teams of health professionals to deliver care more locally and making best use of specialist skills in the right setting.

Healthcare for London’s Medical Director Andy Mitchell said:

“The case for changing the provision of healthcare for children and young people in the capital is strong. Too many children and young people are admitted to hospital unnecessarily after a visit to A&E, when they could be treated more locally in their local GP surgery, polyclinic or community nursing team.
 
 “We recommend having paediatric assessment units staffed by senior doctors trained in child medicine. These doctors will advise what is best for the child – whether that be observation in the unit, further tests, or referral on to a specialist inpatient unit or their GP.”

Download the guide from the children's and young people's project documentation page.

Notes for editors

1. Healthcare for London’s children and young people's project developed the guidance in consultation with a wide range of clinicians, commissioners and patients across the capital.
2. Healthcare for London will also publish guidance on improving maternity services later this year.
3. The Healthcare for London programme works on behalf of London’s 31 primary care trusts (PCTs) to support the delivery of the strategy for the capital’s health services and the health of Londoners, as set out in Healthcare for London: A Framework for Action (2007). Healthcare for London is now part of Commissioning Support for London – an organisation established to provide clinical and business support to London’s NHS.