Briefing: Crib sheet - Health and wellbeing

Right, I have five minutes to learn about the health and wellbeing of children and young people. Where do I begin? Well, you could do worse than look at the recently published National Service Framework for Children, Young People and Maternity Services.

Which says? Look at Standard One, which states: "The health and wellbeing of all children and young people is promoted and delivered through a co-ordinated programme of action, including prevention and early intervention wherever possible, to ensure long-term gain, led by the NHS in partnership with local authorities." And the accompanying vision statement talks about how all children and young people should be able to achieve the best possible health outcomes and how children and their families should be supported in making healthy choices. Each of us should work towards reducing health inequalities, and those providing integrated services should ensure that checks and targeted interventions are available when needed.