Written by Sue Johnson, professional officer at the SoR
The Children and Young People’s Health Policy Influencing Group has published a policy paper on shaping the future direction of services for babies, children and young people.
As a member of the Health Policy Influencing Group (HPIG), the SoR has contributed to this work, alongside a wider coalition of organisations, to support efforts to place children’s health at the centre of system reform.
For Diagnostic and Therapeutic Radiographers, this paper – titled 'Ten Tests for NHS England's Children and Young People's Modern Service Framework,' published on 23 June – signals a number of important shifts in how services will be designed and delivered over the coming years.
10 key tests
The policy paper sets out ten key tests for the forthcoming NHS England Modern Service Framework (MSF), with a central theme on moving toward earlier intervention and prevention.
Its criteria include:
- An ambitious vision for children's health
- The voices of babies, children, young people and families to be central to the MSF's development, implementation and evaluation
- Clear targets that include all children, with a particular focus on those with serious and complex needs
- A credible implementation plan with clear baselines, milestones and accountability mechanisms
- Integration driven across services that interact with babies, children and young people
- Set out how the three shifts underpinning NHS transformation apply to babies, children and young people
- An intersectional approach, with a focus on building inclusive, anti-racist and culturally competent services for babies, children and young people
- Alignment with the government's upcoming NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, to ensure the workforce is in place to deliver child-centred care
- Public health at the heart of a whole-system approach to healthy childhoods
- Support for children and young people's health through every transition
Its framework calls for a stronger focus on timely diagnosis and improved access to specialist services, particularly for children with complex, long-term or life-limiting conditions.
This is likely to place increasing importance on efficient imaging pathways and rapid access to radiotherapy where needed.
Necessary changes
The proposed shift from hospital-based care to community and neighbourhood services is another key development. The framework highlights the need to bring care closer to home, which could lead to expanded community-based imaging and treatment models. However, it also makes clear that this will require sufficient workforce capacity and infrastructure to avoid further delays in care.
The framework emphasises the need for closer working between health, education and social care, with care planned around the whole child rather than individual conditions. For radiographers, this reinforces the importance of multidisciplinary collaboration and joined-up care pathways.
It highlights ongoing shortages across children’s services and stresses the need for investment in recruitment, training and retention. As care shifts into community settings, new workforce models and skills will be required to support delivery.
Ensuring continuity of care
The framework cautions against a ‘digital-first’ approach for children, noting the importance of face-to-face assessment in recognising symptoms and safeguarding concerns.
A stronger focus on inclusive, culturally competent services and better use of data to identify and address gaps in access and outcomes ensures there is a focus on health inequalities.
Finally, the paper highlights the need to improve transitions between services, particularly the gap between paediatric and adult care. Ensuring continuity of care across these stages will be critical to improving long-term outcomes.
Overall, the framework points towards a future where children’s services are more integrated, prevention-focused and delivered closer to home. For radiographers, this is likely to mean a growing role in early diagnosis, multidisciplinary care and tackling inequalities, alongside continued pressure on workforce capacity.
The paper has been officially launched and is accessible online here.
(Image: Photo by Pressmaster, via Getty Images)