For the first time, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH), working in close collaboration with the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP), Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPharms), Royal College of Nursing (RCN) and other key UK professional bodies, will be partnering with the American Academy of Paediatrics (AAP) to create Paediatric Care Online UK - a one-stop, website which aims to enhance and support daily practice for all child health practitioners by giving them access to nationally approved high quality clinical resources, information and advice.

The RCPCH, will learn from the successful model that is already being used in America - 'Pediatric Care Online' - to create, in partnership with the AAP, its own sister site which will be the single point of reference for any child health professionals practicing in the UK.

Funded by the Department of Health (UK), 'Paediatric Care Online UK' is a project worth up to £2million. It's the first of its kind in Britain and it will provide:

  • Clinical decision support for paediatric prescribing
  • Nationally approved and accredited resources across all paediatric care
  • Links and signposting to other high quality materials already available

President of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, Dr Hilary Cass, said:

"This project shows a commitment from Government to improve the health of children across the UK - it's a commitment we are extremely excited about.

"Paediatric Care Online UK will act as a reliable and supportive tool that all child health practitioners can use in their day-to-day working lives.

"Good training programmes for those working with children are essential, but professionals need to stay up to date throughout their professional careers, not just during the training phase. Having a tool which ensures immediately accessible information and supports fast, accurate diagnosis and safe prescribing is one way of a series of measures that we are putting in place to improve our child health outcomes.

"I look forward to working with our colleagues in America to deliver a world class service which is valued by the child health profession."

Thomas K. McInerny, MD, FAAP, Member of the PCO Editorial Board and Immediate Past President of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said:

"The American Academy of Pediatrics is pleased to partner with the Royal College of Pediatrics and Child Health to modify our Pediatric Care On-Line and design a resource for primary care clinicians in the UK."

'Paediatric Care Online UK' is due to go live in summer 2015.