CYP Now - Policy & Practice: Policy into practice - Children must have a say in their healthcare

Recent years have seen a plethora of Government initiatives empowering adults to make their own healthcare choices and get their voices heard. From the expert patient programme, patient and public forums and the philosophy of patient-centred care, the NHS is responding to the needs and rights of patients.

But none of these initiatives have been adapted to the specific needs of children and young people until the recent launch of the National Service Framework for Children, Young People and Maternity Services, which finally sets standards in healthcare that are truly child-centred.

Historically, children and young people have had to rely on others to negotiate their way through a very adult-centred healthcare system. And it has only been in the last few years that doctors have even begun to look at the differences that drive a young patient's treatment, from the extra care needed to carry out an injection to the smaller doses of drugs that should be administered to a child.

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