Under proposals set out by Yorkshire and the Humber Strategic Health Authority (SHA) for reforming the work of the NHS in the region, it is looking to create specialist primary care teams. These could include health visitors, midwives, school nurses, paediatric therapists and GPs.
The document, Healthy Ambitions, is the SHA's response to health minister Lord Darzi's review of the NHS. The document's publication coincided with Lord Darzi's latest report Leading Local Change, which said NHS reform should be locally-led.
Jean Hawkins, strategic lead for children and families at the Yorkshire and Humber SHA, said: "We wanted to focus on having good strong primary care teams with advanced nurses, community nursing teams and GPs with an expertise in children."
She said options for primary care trusts within the SHA include creating a new role of children's GP or training all doctors on children's health issues. Other recommendations include creating a risk-assessment tool to be used from birth until the teenage years to ensure children are meeting the five Every Child Matters outcomes and to identify those needing extra support.
The initial focus of the SHA's work on implementing the proposals will be on improving services for children with long-term conditions such as asthma and diabetes.
The SHA's aim is to reduce hospital admissions and help children manage their conditions better. The SHA has also proposed consistent access to child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) across the region.
The South West SHA also published its response to Darzi's review last week. Its response set out plans to make specialist community-based CAMHS available to all children and to reduce admissions to CAMHS.
The East of England SHA's suggestions included creating a child health promotion programme, developing children's assessment units and setting up a board to oversee the development of children's health services.
- www.cypnow.co.uk/doc.
