»Ê¼Ò»ªÈË

The role of the Health and Social Care Select Committee is to examine the Department of Health and Social Care’s policies. Their . The inquiry plans to focus on three key areas: national strategy, current spending and barriers to investment and local provision.

Our response

• Evidence has shown that early interventions in childhood will create healthier adult populations and significantly reduce NHS spending in the medium and long term.
• Maternal health is vital to the outcomes of children, especially in their early years.
• Increasing levels of children living in poverty has caused health inequalities for children. Children who live in households experiencing deprivation are more likely to have poor health outcomes.
• Cuts to public spending have reduced the capacity to provide public health services, which are vital for supporting mothers and children in the first 1,000 days.
• Paediatricians, health visitors and maternity services play a vital role in supporting mothers and children in the first 1,000 days. However, workforce shortages have been identified across paediatrics and health visiting.

Our recommendations

• The Health and Social Care Select Committee should focus on a number of key priorities, including: infant mortality, smoking during pregnancy, breastfeeding and immunisation. For each of these, the outcomes are exacerbated for children in poverty.
• Mothers should be supported during pre-conception, the antenatal period, labour and birth, and the post-natal period.
• The Health and Social Care Select Committee should acknowledge the role poverty plays in the first 1,000 days and implement recommendations to ease these inequalities.
• Funding for public health services should be increased and maintained.
• Services should be appropriately funded and staffed to deliver high quality care.

We respond to a wide range of consultations to ensure that the College’s position, and ultimately children’s health, is represented. Members can get involved in current consultations by contacting the Health Policy team: health.policy@rcpch.ac.uk.