- Childhood and adolescence are key life stages where people face inequalities in health outcomes (such as infant mortality rate and obesity rates) alongside inequalities in accessing services. Almost a third of children in the UK currently live in poverty and are at risk of experiencing poorer health outcomes.
- There are effective opportunities to intervene to support children and young people with long-term health conditions and to encourage positive habits relating to engagement with healthcare services and techniques for young people to self-manage their own health.
- Investment in a broad range of public services, from education to housing, is important in addressing inequalities. However, the inequalities experienced by children and young people are also exacerbated by the current operational pressures facing trusts, with waiting lists for children growing at faster rates in comparison to adults across many services in the acute, mental health and community sectors. See chapter Inequalities faced by children and young people.
- Trusts can play a key role in improving the health of children and young people and making progress to reduce inequalities. Working with system partners to target interventions earlier in life can prevent ill health in adulthood, creating healthier societies and reducing demand on health services in the long term. Trusts can also improve the accessibility of their services for children and young people, by considering zero to 25 year services and implementation of youth friendly healthcare standards. See chapter The role of trusts.
- Core20PLUS5 remains a key tool for trusts to implement to reduce health inequalities experienced by children and young people. It provides an approach for targeting interventions on key clinical areas: asthma, diabetes, epilepsy, oral health and mental health. See chapter The role of trusts.
- Trusts are already taking decisive action to reduce the health inequalities facing children and young people, including through social deprivation screening, social prescribing, improving access to services for the whole family, and Poverty Proofing© healthcare settings. To play their part effectively, trusts must understand the data available to them on children’s health and engage with children and young people and their families. See chapters Case study: Barts Health NHS Trust and Case study: Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust.