ListenUK
What does the NHS Outcomes
Framework mean for children?
...
Improving outcomes for children depends on
wider health issues and changes to professional practice
What's new in the government's recently published NHS Outcomes Framework 2012-13? While there's much that's the same as last year's framework, there seems to be a renewed impetus behind it this year to ensure a clearer link between outcomes and practice. This is good news. But what will it mean for children?
Asking children for their views
Secretary of state for health, Andrew Lansley appeared in the press
highlighting how this framework would be underpinned by new surveys to ask
children and young people about their experience of healthcare. While there
are already many surveys on this, the explicit recognition by government in
the outcomes framework is new. This should be applauded because children's
health has long remained overlooked.
This children's survey is based on a new indicator in the recent outcomes framework measuring: improving children and young people's experience of health care. Though it's disappointing that it has taken until now for this indicator to be included, it's nonetheless a sign that children's healthcare may start getting the attention it deserves.
Public health outcomes
There is hope that the forthcoming Public Health Outcomes Framework
will significantly improve child health outcomes. The government's proposals
on this set out improvement areas relating to a wide range of children's
health and wellbeing issues such as poverty, school readiness, truancy and
sexual health outcomes.
The government's response to this highlighted there was a "need for a much stronger emphasis on outcomes for children and young people". They also highlight that there isn't currently a children's outcomes framework, but they say this shouldn't hinder striving for improved outcomes.
We would go further, and indeed we have called on the government to develop an outcomes framework for children and young people that cuts across all health-related and non health-related (education, youth justice, police, etc) services.
Will it make a difference?
Despite some of these positive steps, the question remains whether this will
actually make a difference for children. Measuring health, public health and
social care outcomes is too simplistic to understand the effectiveness of
services to improve the health and wellbeing of children and young people.
Healthcare can't be delivered to try to meet just these narrow and high-level indicators for children's health – it should look at the wider determinants of children's health. For example, housing and education can be crucial to improving health outcomes for children and young people, and these also need to be jointly monitored, measured and improved.
The success of the outcomes framework will also depend on whether it leads to changed professional practice. At a recent event, held by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, the NHS Confederation and the Office for Public Management, professionals and young people looked at the implications of the health reforms for children's health.
As shown in the resulting report, a big message from the young people there was that improved professional behaviours, communication and engagement with young people is the most important factor in improving their healthcare. By really involving children and young people at all levels of health systems, professionals can positively influence the experience of children and young people of healthcare.
This is good for their patients, good for meeting government indicators and ultimately good for the general health and wellbeing of the population.
Ayesha Janjua
13 January 2012
