The sites were selected to develop patient-centred outcome measures for children and young people. These involve consulting with young people who use NHS services as well as their families to help local health providers better measure the effectiveness of their care and to design services.
Tim Kelsey, NHS England’s national director for patients and information, said: “This is all about asking young patients what is most important to them. The NHS wants to pioneer new approaches to measuring quality in health care, and putting patient and carer voice at the centre of this is key.
“I am delighted we are able to support seven organisations across England to work with patients to understand the most important outcomes for children and young people living with such a wide range of conditions and symptoms.”
Each of the seven sites will look at different ways to gather children’s and families’ views, with Guys and St Thomas’ looking at creating an animated consultation website to target five- to 10-year-olds with chronic conditions.
Meanwhile, University Hospitals Bristol will work with the University of the West of England, Children’s Hospice South West and Palliative Care Working Group to consult with children with life-threatening diseases.
Nottingham's University Hospitals NHS Trust work will focus on consulting with young people admitted for self-harm injuries and eating disorders.
At Alder Hey the focus will be on children with complex breathing disorders.
Dr Ian Sinha, respiratory paediatrician at Alder Hey said: “This is a great opportunity to develop a way of finding out what is important to children with complex breathing disorders, and the exciting part is allowing the parents and children to take centre stage and for us as clinicians to listen to them.”
The other successful sites are Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust, North of England Commissioning Support, and Shropshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).
A greater focus on involving children in measuring the impact of services has been among calls made by the independent Children and Young People Health Outcomes Forum advisory group.
Anna Feuchtwang, chief executive of the National Children’s Bureau, which is among children’s groups represented on the forum, said: “Plans to involve children, young people and families in measuring the impact of health services are a welcome indication that the NHS is getting more serious about giving children a voice.
“The children and young people we speak to frequently ask to be involved in decisions about their care and the health services they use. We hope lessons from this work will be put into use across the whole country so that there is better accountability for the quality of health services for all children."
Last year, the forum successfully lobbied for GPs to have better access to training in managing care for children and young people with long-term health conditions.
