Government’s Health and Social Care Bill misses chance to save the lives of children

‘A missed opportunity’ to improve children’s health services, experts are branding the government’s Health and Social Care Bill.

Improvements are urgently needed to deliver children’s health services in England, say leading experts headed by Ingrid Wolfe.

A paper published on the British Medical Journal website today, argues that care provided by children’s health services in the UK, is ‘inferior’ compared to other European countries.

The authors don’t believe the government’s proposals show any learning from how the other countries deliver healthcare for children.

UK child death rates from meningitis, pneumonia and asthma, that rely on rapid care, are higher that in Sweden, France, Italy, Germany and the Netherlands.

As many as 1,500 children could be saved every year if the UK performed as well as Sweden, the researchers say.

Proposals by the government to increase competition between providers could fragmented services further and risk creating more problems with data sharing.

“We believe that the coalition government’s proposed changes to the NHS in England do not address children’s needs and, worse, risk exacerbating the problems we have described,” the paper concludes.