Speaking at the Association of Directors of Children's Services (ADCS) conference last week, John Coughlan, director of children's services in Hampshire, said joint working between health and children's services was being hampered by different commissioning frameworks within councils and the NHS.
He said: "I'm concerned that the twin forces of practice-based commissioning and world-class commissioning in health are affecting our capacity to commission good community health services."
Coughlan believes the government should think more radically about the delivery of child community health services.
Christine Davies, director of the Centre for Excellence and Outcomes in Children and Young People's Services, said that there needed to be more commitment from health to work with children's services.
But Jo Webber, policy director at the NHS Confederation, said: "The great advantage of world-class commissioning is that it allows us to look at issues in the round. There is a huge opportunity to work together across services."
Practice-based commissioning puts GPs at the forefront of deciding what services are needed in an area. The NHS world-class commissioning programme is a long-term approach aimed at delivering improved health outcomes.
