The Healthcare Commission has published State of Healthcare 2008 to examine the healthcare system in England.
Inspectors expressed concern at the low priority given to issues relating to children, the levels of essential training in child protection amongst clinicians and lines of accountability and responsibility for child protection.
The report said: "While many NHS trusts and primary care trusts (PCTs) have worked hard to raise the profile of children's services, concerns remain about the priority given to children's issues by some NHS trusts and PCT boards and by the independent healthcare providers.
"Our work with other inspectorates has also found that in some agencies, lines of accountability and responsibility are still not always clear."
Inspectors also found that inequalities in child healthcare that are linked to deprivation are widening. The Department of Health has set a target to reduce the gap in infant mortality rates by 10 per cent by 2010. However, the commission said that latest data for 2004-06 shows that the gap has widened.
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