Caroline Healy, health adviser to the Sure Start Unit, told delegates to Primary Care 2004: "Children aren't particularly high on the NHS agenda. We are having difficulty in engaging primary care trusts in the development of children's centres."
She added that some local councils were having similar problems. Since they were taking the lead on children's centres, some PCTs viewed the centres as coming under the remit of "education" and were "nothing to do with me".
Different structures meant it was hard for local authorities to find someone who is responsible for children's services in a health organisation: "They generally have huge agendas and the children's bit can be a bolt-on as a statutory requirement."
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