Child protection must be part of NHS reforms, warns review

The NHS Future Forum report, based on a two-month consultation into proposed reforms in the government’s Health and Social Care Bill, argues that "there should be robust arrangements for designated and named professionals for safeguarding children in the new system as part of wider systems to maintain and improve safeguarding arrangements for children".

Dr Chris Hanvey, chief executive of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH), said the college believes the reforms have the potential to weaken accountability in child protection arrangements.

But he said the Future Forum report is a promising move forward and could help stop the most vulnerable children falling through gaps in the system. 

"Our president Professor Terence Stephenson was a member of the Future Forum and we are encouraged that the final Future Forum report acknowledges the concerns he raised about the extent to which the impact of the Health and Social Care Bill on children’s health had not been reflected," Hanvey said.

The report also addresses the need to maintain continuity of care for disabled children and young people with complex needs.

It recommends a system where health, social care and education services are integrated and are accountable to health and wellbeing boards, which would oversee joint commissioning. 

RCPCH said: "We think this is a positive recommendation because children with complex needs require multi-professional services and this will prevent fragmentation of care for the most vulnerable children."

Sean O’Sullivan, head of policy at the Royal College of Midwives, backed the Future Forum recommendation which states that providers in the NHS should focus on co-operation and working together as opposed to competition.

"Much of this makes sense to us," he said. "Competition in the provision of maternity care is not an option we would support and would harm, not improve services. We also agree that more focus should be on integration of services. Maternity services, more than most, need integrated and co-ordinated care."

But Barbara Hearn, deputy chief executive at the National Children’s Bureau, warned the proposals will not meet the specific needs of children and young people.

"Current proposals treat children the same as adults and do not reflect the specific and often specialist needs of infants, children and young people," she said. "We are particularly concerned about child protection, transitions to adult services, children in care, children with special educational needs, disabilities and mental health conditions.
"We will be watching carefully to ensure that measures introduced are not tokenistic and will actively improve services for children."