"I think that, in the style of a school report, 2017 was a 'solid year upon which to build for the future'. The RCPCH Scotland team have been very involved in child health strategy and policy, we responded to an average of two consultations (or other enquiries) every week. A reasonable proportion of the recommendations to Scottish Government in the 2017 RCPCH State of Child health (SoCH) report have already been put in place. Of course these recommendations might have been implemented without RCPCH advice, and we need to follow up on the SOCH recommendations over the coming years. 2018 is the Year of the Young Person in Scotland, and this is the prefect setting to continue developing a child health policy aimed at delivering a healthier and wealthier Scotland. The RCPCH is a member organisation, and in 2018 our members will face a number of pressures that may include holes in on-call rotas, ward closures, a new training curriculum and increasingly complex clinical situations. Many of these pressures are managed locally, but in 2018 the RCPCH Scotland team will continue to provide a voice from members to Government and NHS Boards. Please contact us if you think we might help. With best wishes for the new year, Steve Turner on behalf of the team"
We launched our State of Child Health report and recommendations for Scotland in the Scottish Parliament in January 2017. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon welcomed the report, noting that it "... contains important messages for the Scottish Government, whilst there have been notable improvements in child health indicators over recent years, more is required and we cannot be complacent".
We continue to lobby the Scottish Government to implement our recommendations for Scotland, working closely on issues such as a Scottish Child Death Review process and the forthcoming obesity strategy.
The voices of children and young people are at the heart of what we do. In June 17 the Scottish Committee were taken over by a group of 16 young people who discussed the State of Child Health report and what our priorities should be. Mental health and wellbeing came top of their list.
We share the Scottish Government's vision that Scotland will be one of the healthiest places in the world for children to grow up in, with equitable access to resources, and communities that value and promote both physical and mental well being. To support this vision we build and maintain relationships with Government, MSPs, civil servants, and other key decision-makers with the aim of influencing policy and effecting change on matters relevant to child health.
In 2017 we met with Ministers, MSPs, the Chief Medical Officer, Scottish Government's Child and Maternal Health Division, Bliss, Diabetes Scotland, Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems (SHAAP), Obesity Action Scotland, Children's Health Scotland, and the Faculty of Public Health. We are members of four Scottish Parliament Cross Party Working Groups - Children and Young People, Accident Prevention, Health Inequalities and Improving Scotland's Health. We have responded to 11 Scottish Government consultations.
We championed child health at external events, including NHS Health Scotland's Adverse Childhood Experiences, Bliss' Neonatal Care, Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh's General Surgery of Childhood, Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents' UK Drowning Strategy, Scottish Government's Named Person and Information Sharing Guidance and the Faculty of Public Health's 'Healthy Lives, Fairer Futures' event.
We delivered training on FGM, Child Protection Court Skills, Mentoring Skills, Effective Educational Supervision and Parliamentary Lobbying Skills.
We supported partners to deliver events on Palliative Care and Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders.
We supported our members to deliver child protection peer review, clinical exams, exam question setting days, the Scottish Association for Community Child Health AGM and conference and the Scottish Paediatric Society St Andrews Day Symposium.
The RCPCH Scotland Committee considered issues around the Paediatric Workforce, Education Provision within Scotland, support for our Regional Leads, Educational Supervisors and Tutors.
The RCPCH Scotland Child Protection Sub Committee produced Scottish Child Protection Core Competences for Level 1 and 2 Trainees, hosted two Scottish-wide peer review sessions and supported the Education Provision team to deliver 'Child Protection, The professional witness in the courtroom'.
Thank you for listening, for responding, for turning up, for saying yes, for saying no and for always believing that child health matters!
Credits:
Created with images by The Climate Reality Project - "Woman Pen Notebook"