Partnership offers huge potential for children's health, says ADCS

Moving to a more integrated commissioning system that involves joint decision making about how resources are spent by a range of children and young people's agencies offers huge potential to improve outcomes, says Andrew Christie, chair of the ADCS health, care and additional needs policy committee.

Writing exclusively for CYP Now, Christie says: "During the Spending Round last week, the government introduced a new single £3.8bn pooled budget for adult health and social care to ensure the right care for people when and where they need it.

"A more integrated approach to commissioning of services holds just as much potential benefit for children as adults [and] we hope that pooled budgets become a reality for children in the future."

Christie's comments follow the launch today of the Children's Health and Wellbeing Partnership for England (CHWP), a leadership body made up of national and local government organisations with the aim of working together to improve life outcomes for all children and young people.

Co-chaired by Jon Rouse, director general for local government and social care at the Department of Health, and Mark Rogers, chair of the children's and education network at the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives, the CHWP will provide national leadership on efforts to create more joined-up public services for children.

Christie, who will be the ADCS representative on the partnership, says the formation of the CHWP could be a significant step towards achieving an integrated system.

"If we can work together on both a national and local level to get this right, the improvement in the experience of care for children and their families could be huge, leading to better outcomes and more efficient service delivery in the future," he says.

Read Christie's article in the 9 July issue of CYP Now and on cypnow.co.uk.