As part of government plans to make local councils more efficient, a number of counties, including Cornwall, Durham, Northumberland, Shropshire and Wiltshire, are to be covered by a single-tier council.
Unitary changes could also be in the pipeline for Norfolk and Suffolk.
County councils are responsible for children's services including education and safeguarding.
Speaking at a conference held by the Association for Young People's Health last week, Dr Gill Turner, consultant community paediatrician at Northumberland Care Trust, stressed the importance of multi-agency working to improve children's health services.
However, she said the situation in Northumberland is being hindered by ongoing preparation for wide-scale change. "It has been really alarming to me to see how difficult it is to focus on one agenda when there is a lot of change happening, making people feel quite anxious," she said. "Trying to keep people focused while there is lots of upheaval is tricky."
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