New children’s health strategy to be unveiled

The government has unveiled plans to launch a new strategy aimed at improving healthcare standards for children and young people later this year.

Announced by health secretary Andrew Lansley, the new outcomes strategy will be developed with input from a group of independent experts from the local government, the NHS and charities, which will solicit views from children, families and carers.

Professor Ian Lewis – medical director at the Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust – and Council for Disabled Children director Christine Lenehan will lead the project, which will seek to establish how the NHS can address the health issues that matter to young people.

Mr Lansley said early intervention is vital to ensuring that children adopt healthy patterns of behaviour from a young age.

"We will bring together people and resources from across the NHS, social care and wider children's services to develop a clear set of goals to give all children the right start in life," he added.

Last week, the government detailed its new assessment framework for localised healthcare schemes, which will track progress based on criteria such as prevention of obesity and heart disease deaths.