This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Children's health services
12/09/2003
The first report of the Child Health Support Group
(CHSG), created by the Executive to encourage improvements
in child health services, was published today.
The Group visited all NHS Boards in Scotland over two
years to assess how well children's health services were
working before producing the report -
Making it Work for Scotland's
Children.
It found examples of good practice and made
recommendations to individual Boards for further
improvement.
A recent follow-up exercise showed that much has been
achieved by NHS Boards since the visits, which in many
cases have prompted new local investment in children's
services.
Health Minister Malcolm Chisholm said:
"To ensure the best possible start in life for our
children, we need to ensure that they are able to access
the best quality care, information and advice where and
when they need it.
"The Child Health Support Group has played a valuable
role in raising awareness of the needs of children and
young people and supporting NHSScotland to meet these.
"Today's report shows that much has been achieved during
the last three years. The National Template for Child
Health Services, created by the CHSG, is now the standard
to which all NHS Boards in Scotland work and is already
helping to provide seamless care for children and their
families. I have been impressed by the many examples of
positive work that is ongoing across Scotland.
"However, the report also recognises that there is still
much work to be done in order to improve services which
have in the past been fragmented and poorly targeted.
Families should be able to get the help they need without
struggling with the artificial boundaries between the
different organisations that serve them.
"The Group has also highlighted the role that health
inequalities play in making some children more likely to
suffer from poor mental and physical health than others.
Later this year we will bring out national guidance on how
child health services in the early years can focus
increasingly on promoting good health among those most in
need.
"The Child Health Support Group's workplan for the
coming years sets out how it plans to tackle some of the
most pressing issues to create improved, accessible and
sustainable services for children. I look forward to seeing
the results of that work."
Malcolm Wright, Chief Executive of NHS Dumfries and
Galloway, and Chair of CHSG, said:
"The Health White Paper, Partnership for Care, described
the Executive's commitment to working in partnership with
staff in the NHS and with other partners - including those
who use our services - to provide responsive,
patient-centred services.
"The Child Health Support Group reflects that
partnership at work to improve child health. Beyond our
group of very skilled and dedicated members, we work with
wide networks of clinicians working in all aspects of
health care, practitioners in other services, and of course
those who represent children and families, to help build a
national health service that really works for children in
Scotland.
"I am proud of the work the Group has done since it was
set up three years ago, and of our first overview report,
which sets out the significant progress that has been made
in some key areas and describes examples of the difference
that our work has made at local and national level.
"Much remains to be done, and our work programme for the
next two years is rightly ambitious. We will continue to
work closely with Ministers and our stakeholders in the
NHS, education and social work services and the voluntary
sector to promote children's good health, to strengthen
prevention of ill-health and to achieve first class care
for those who need it."
CHSG membership of 16 is drawn from medicine, nursing,
social work, allied health professionals, public health and
the voluntary sector.
Its work programme for the next two years includes:
- promoting social justice through better integrated
services for children
- reviewing and planning specialist paediatric
services
- strengthening community based child health
services
- championing and developing child and adolescent
mental health
- promoting the involvement of children and young
people in NHSScotland