24 January 2018

State of Child Health: One Year On

Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) has issued their “State of Child Health: One Year On” scorecard, which describes progress made against their series of recommendations to improve child health released twelve months ago.

The new report praised Scottish policies designed to reduce child poverty and improve health care. The Child Poverty Act, the new Mental Health Strategy, and the announcement of the Family Nurse Partnership Programme were of particular note.

Although Scotland has made progress in regards to children’s health, the RCPCH is urging all governments in the UK to consider a ‘child health in all policies’ approach, where any legislation passed takes children’s health into consideration. The RCPCH also recommends establishing a committee to focus on the development of a wider child health strategy across the UK.