Improving Care For Children With Long Term Health Needs, UK

Main Category: Pediatrics / Children's Health
Article Date: 03 Oct 2008 - 2:00 PST

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The Department of Health today outlined proposals to improve the quality of care for children with complex, long term health needs as they launched the consultation on the National Framework for Assessing Children's Continuing Care.

The Children's Continuing Care Framework proposes to create a tailor made package of care for each child or young person who will need care over an extended period of time due to disability, accident or illness. The package will support the child's parents or carers to manage their care at home or in other settings such as school and will include support from the NHS, Education and Social Services.

The National Framework will assist Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) and Local Authorities to obtain a complete picture of a child's health needs so that decisions on funding care packages can be made according to the same set of criteria across the country.

Health Minister Ben Bradshaw said:

"It is important that there is greater transparency around how decisions about a child's care are made. This Framework will ensure that all children who may need continuing care are assessed against the same criteria wherever they live. This new Framework will also ensure that the child and their family are kept at the heart of this process."

Andrew Adonis the Schools Minister said:

"Use of this Framework will enable Local Children's Services to work with their NHS partners to assess a child or young person's long term needs in the community. Use of the National Framework will contribute to how PCTs and LAs deliver their core offer to families of disabled children locally."

The closing date is 31 December.

Notes

1. A determination of whether a child or young person is eligible for continuing care package is currently based on local procedures, which often vary from area to area. A National Framework will provide a system of assessment based on need which is applied consistently across the country

2. The Framework is designed for the NHS but the Decision Support Tool will be used by the NHS and Local Authorities to obtain a complete picture of the child or young person's health needs in order to make a decision about whether to fund a continuing care package.

3. Decisions about which care packages to fund remain the responsibility of the PCT and the LA.

4. Copies of the consultation can be found at http://www.dh.gov.uk/children

Department of Health , UK