CYP Now - Now is the time to focus efforts on narrowing health inequality

From 1 October, the transfer of responsibility for public health to local authorities will be complete when councils take charge of preventative health services for under-fives.

This will include responsibility for commissioning vital services on which families rely, such as health visitors undertaking development checks for babies and toddlers, and Family Nurse Partnerships supporting young first-time mothers.

This new way of working could build on the strengths of local authorities, enabling them to use their knowledge of local needs to target services more effectively. It also gives them the chance to integrate commissioning of services, such as children's centres, parenting support and health visiting, so they extract maximum benefit from working in co-operation.

But the greatest challenge for local authorities is that they will inherit a yawning variation in health outcomes - an inequality gap they will be responsible for closing.

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