Last week CDC Director Christine Lenehan spoke to a group
of young people staying at The Children's Trust as part
of her role as co-chair of the Children
and Young People's Health Outcomes Forum.
The Forum has been tasked with creating a set of health
service outcomes for child health and addressing longstanding
system issues that prevent children from accessing universal and
specialist healthcare. You can find out more about feeding in to
the work of the Forum in the health
section of our website.
At the visit the young people explained to Christine what
mattered most to them when they accessed health services. Christine
also met parents of young people staying at the Trust as well as a
group of healthcare professionals working at the Trust.
Christine said: "It was a pleasure to meet the children,
families and staff of The Children's Trust. It was a valuable
opportunity to hear directly from people using the child health
system and to hear their recommendations on how the system could be
improved.
"I thank The Children's Trust, Tadworth for inviting me to meet
with them and look forward to taking forward their views to the
Children and Young People's Forum."
Andrew Ross, chief executive of The Children's Trust, said: "We
were very pleased to welcome Christine Lenehan to the Trust so that
she could engage with a group of children and families who have a
greater stake than most in seeing that the NHS works for young
people.
"One of the key themes that emerged in all of the discussions
was the importance of a lead professional who is prepared to act as
a co-ordinating influence to help disabled children access the
different services they need and champion their cause. We know this
makes a huge difference to children and families.
"The children also expressed very powerfully their desire to be
listened to when decisions are being made about their health, while
the parents spoke of their exasperation at having to fight for
vital specialist services."
Health Secretary Andrew Lansley commissioned the forum in
January following the publication of the
Disabled Children and Health Reform report by the Every
Disabled Child Matters campaign, in partnership with The Children's
Trust.
Photo caption: Christine Lenehan with Ethan and Jenisha, who
were amongst the young people who gave their views on the
Government's NHS reforms. Copyright: The Children's Trust.