Children's health staff shortages
Significant workforce shortages across multiple disciplines in children's health, impacting care delivery and patient safety.
215 items
6 sources
2 inquiries
Strongest theme matches
Mixed across source types and ranked by classifier confidence plus text match strength.
Committee recommendation
100match
#13 - Eighth Report - Children and young people’s mental health
One of the largest barriers to increasing access to mental health provision for children and young people remains the size of the mental health workforce. We have seen that children and young people’s mental health practitioners face staff shortages, increasing demand and high levels of work-related stress which in turn leads to more part-time work and increased early...
Matched on
terms: children, health, shortage, staff
Committee recommendation
100match
#66 - Shortages of educational psychologists and allied health professionals undermine quality of SEND support
Shortages of educational psychologists and allied health professionals, including speech and language therapists, occupational therapists, and physiotherapists are significantly undermining the availability and quality of SEND support. These workforce gaps delay assessments, restrict access to essential interventions, and place additional pressure on schools and multi- academy trusts to fill specialist roles they are not equipped to provide. In...
Matched on
terms: children, health, shortage
Committee recommendation
100match
#14 - Create sustainable children's health workforce with specific recruitment targets in the NHS Plan.
The Government must take the opportunity presented by the forthcoming NHS 10 Year Workforce Plan to create a sustainable and well-resourced children’s health workforce. While we understand the Government’s desire for the workforce plan to go beyond numbers, a plan that does not set out a clear, achievable and funded road map for addressing staff shortages would completely...
Matched on
terms: children, health, shortage, staff
Committee recommendation
100match
#13 - Significant shortages across children's health workforce are impacting care delivery and patient safety.
Throughout this inquiry we heard that the children’s health workforce is being stretched to breaking point. There are significant shortages across multiple disciplines which prevent professionals from delivering the care young children and their families need and that, in some cases, significantly impacts on patient safety (Conclusion, Paragraph 76)
Matched on
terms: children, health, shortage
Committee recommendation
95match
#14 - Eighth Report - Children and young people’s mental health
In addition, it is paramount that a plan is implemented to increase the size and wellbeing of the children and young people’s mental health workforce based on independently verified estimates of the number of people needed in different disciplines and the training places required to deliver them. The strategy should include an assessment of how the skill mix...
Matched on
terms: children, health
Committee recommendation
94match
#67 - Develop joint SEND workforce plan to address shortages and re-deploy professionals therapeutically
The DfE and DHSC should urgently develop a joint SEND workforce plan to address shortages and build capacity across education, health, and care services. This should include explicit measures to deliver a shift in the deployment of educational psychologists, speech and language therapists and other allied health professionals away from undertaking assessments and writing reports and towards greater...
Matched on
terms: children, health, shortage, staff
Committee recommendation
91match
#15 - Set plans to support non-NHS children's health professionals and review multidisciplinary team guidance.
Many professions which play a key role in delivering children’s health care are not entirely or primarily employed by the NHS. We recommend the Government sets out how it plans to support those professions in non- NHS settings, particularly allied health professionals and early years practitioners, in a child’s health workforce strategy that should accompany the NHS 10...
Matched on
terms: children, health
Committee recommendation
91match
#9 - Create plan to rebuild health visitor workforce and recruit at least 1000 additional staff.
The Government must create a specific plan to rebuild the health visitor workforce in its forthcoming NHS Long Term Workforce Plan. This plan must be informed by safe staffing tools to ensure that health visitors have a manageable workload. As an initial step, we call on the Government to immediately commit to recruiting at least another 1000 health...
Matched on
terms: health, staff
Committee recommendation
91match
#8 - Decimated health visitor workforce threatens government ambition for children's early life outcomes.
The Government will fail to deliver on its ambition to give every child the best start in life unless it takes urgent action to rebuild the health visitor workforce, which has been decimated over the last 10 years. (Conclusion, Paragraph 55)
Matched on
terms: children, health
Committee recommendation
89match
#4 - Require DHSC to detail ICB SEN prioritisation, workforce plans, and targets for reducing waiting lists.
Accessing health expertise presents a significant barrier to identifying and supporting SEN needs. DHSC plays a critical role in the SEN system. It jointly published with DfE the Code of Practice and 2023 improvement plan and is responsible for overseeing local health service providers. Currently, only 2 out of 32 competing priorities for the National Health Service (NHS)...
Matched on
terms: children, health, staff
PFD report
85match
Madeleine Savory
There is a national shortage of Tier 4 beds in paediatric mental health facilities, delaying timely access to crucial care for children in need.
Matched on
terms: children, health, shortage
Inquiry recommendation
81match
BRIS-196 - Mandate paediatric environment, trained staff, and PICU access for children's interventional procedures
The national standards should stipulate that children with CHD who undergo any form of interventional procedure must be cared for in a paediatric environment. This means that all healthcare professionals who care for these children must be trained and qualified in paediatric care. It also means that children must be cared for in a setting with facilities and...
Matched on
terms: children, health, staff
Inquiry recommendation
81match
BRIS-170 - Designate senior staff in health authorities for local children's healthcare commissioning
Each health authority and each primary care group or primary care trust should designate a senior member of staff who should have responsibility for commissioning children’s healthcare services locally.
Matched on
terms: children, health, staff
Inquiry recommendation
78match
BRIS-167 - Appoint National Director for Children's Healthcare Services to promote improvements
A National Director for Children’s Healthcare Services should be appointed to promote improvements in healthcare services provided for children.
Matched on
terms: children, health
Inquiry recommendation
78match
IHRD-85 - Deputy CMO for Children's Healthcare
The Department should appoint a Deputy Chief Medical Officer with specific responsibility for children's healthcare.
Matched on
terms: children, health
PFD report
77match
Imogen Nunn Prevention of future deaths report
A national shortage and lack of regulation for British Sign Language interpreters, alongside procurement issues and few BSL-proficient clinicians, create significant risks for deaf mental health patients.
Matched on
terms: health, shortage
Inquiry recommendation
77match
IHRD-71 - Children's Healthcare Governance
All Trust Boards should ensure that appropriate governance mechanisms are in place to assure the quality and safety of the healthcare services provided for children and young people.
Matched on
terms: children, health
Committee recommendation
77match
#4 - Eighth Report - Children and young people’s mental health
During the pandemic, children and young people’s mental health has significantly worsened and the scale of the backlog mean that the NHS will not be able to treat its way out of this crisis. The need for early intervention and prevention in children and young people’s mental health has been consistently overlooked by successive governments and although there...
Matched on
terms: children, health
LGO / SPSO decision
76match
PSOW-201903330 - Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board
Ms C complained about her daughter, H’s, management and care by Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board’s “(the First Health Board’s”) Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (“CAMHS”), including what Ms C felt was an unreasonable delay in diagnosing her daughter’s Borderline Personality Disorder (“BPD”). Ms C also complained about a lack of support provided to her prior...
Matched on
terms: children, health, staff
IMB recommendation
76match
Isle of Wight (2022)
This was another difficult year with the prison continuing to face Covid challenges while managing an increasing population of Category C prisoners. Welcome progress was made towards a more normal regime as Covid restrictions were relaxed. However, the anticipated benefits of this were severely limited by chronic staff shortages. This resulted in prisoners remaining locked up for considerable...
Matched on
terms: health, shortage, staff
PFD report
73match
Emma Carpenter
Critical specialist eating disorder services for children lacked long-term funding and inpatient bed provision. Insufficient funding for school nurses caused poor communication between mental health and education systems.
Matched on
terms: children, health
PFD report
73match
Ellame Ford-Dunn Prevention of future deaths report
Insufficient Tier 4 Paediatric Mental Health beds lead to long waits, resulting in children with mental health needs being inappropriately held on acute paediatric wards unsuitable for their care.
Matched on
terms: children, health
Inquiry recommendation
73match
BRIS-181 - Organise children's specialist services for best staff, facilities, and outcomes, prioritising quality
Specialist services for children should be organised so as to provide the best available staff and facilities, thus providing the best possible opportunity for good outcomes. Advice should be sought from experts on the appropriate number of patients to be treated to achieve good outcomes. In planning and organising specialist services, the requirements of quality and safety should...
Matched on
terms: children, staff
Inquiry recommendation
72match
BRIS-185 - Review and apply 1991 paediatric nurse staffing standards as minimum
The 1991 standards for the numbers of paediatrically qualified nurses required at any given time should serve as the minimum standard and should apply where children are treated (save in emergencies). The standards should be reviewed as a matter of urgency to take account of changing patterns in the provision of acute healthcare services.
Matched on
terms: children, health, staff
PFD report
69match
Jackson Chadd
Concerns include inadequate supervision for junior paediatric staff, insufficient consultant oversight for out-of-hours admissions, failure to apply national guidelines for fever in children, and disregarding parental concerns.
Matched on
terms: children, staff
Inquiry recommendation
69match
BRIS-183 - Validate trusts providing children's acute services for child-centred policies, staff, and facilities
After completion of a pilot exercise, all trusts which provide acute hospital services for children should be subject to a process of validation to ensure that they have appropriate child- and family-centred policies, staff, and facilities to provide a good standard of care for children. Trusts which are not so validated should not, save in emergencies, provide acute...
Matched on
terms: children, staff
Inquiry recommendation
69match
BRIS-177 - NSF must provide strategic guidance for integrating children's healthcare services
There must be much greater integration of primary, community, acute and specialist healthcare for children. The NSF should include strategic guidance to health authorities and trusts so that services in the future are better integrated and organised around the needs of children and their families.
Matched on
terms: children, health
Inquiry recommendation
69match
BRIS-176 - NSF must plan regular publication of children's healthcare quality and performance data
The NSF must include plans for the regular publication of information about the quality and performance of children’s healthcare services at national level, at the level of individual trusts, and of individual consultant units.
Matched on
terms: children, health
Inquiry recommendation
69match
BRIS-175 - NSF must include incentives for improving children's healthcare services, aiding needy trusts
The NSF should include incentives for the improvement of children’s healthcare services, with particular help being given to those trusts most in need.
Matched on
terms: children, health
Inquiry recommendation
69match
BRIS-173 - NSF must establish standards for all children's acute healthcare services
The NSF should include a programme for the establishment of standards in all areas of children’s acute hospital and healthcare services.
Matched on
terms: children, health
Inquiry recommendation
69match
BRIS-172 - Urgently agree and implement National Service Framework for children's healthcare
The proposed National Service Framework (NSF) for children’s healthcare services must be agreed and implemented as a matter of urgency.
Matched on
terms: children, health
Inquiry recommendation
69match
BRIS-169 - Expand Cabinet Committee remit to include healthcare for children and young people
The Cabinet Committee on Children and Young People’s Services should specifically include in its remit matters to do with healthcare and health services for children and young people.
Matched on
terms: children, health
Committee recommendation
69match
#37 - Eighth Report - Children and young people’s mental health
We recommend that the Department implement a new system of early intervention to support children and young people who self-harm and are at risk of committing suicide. Educational settings, as a universal provision, can have an important role to provide effective early intervention to pupils who may be struggling with self-harm before the mental health need becomes more...
Matched on
terms: children, health
Committee recommendation
69match
#5 - Eighth Report - Children and young people’s mental health
The Department of Health and Social Care—in partnership with the Department for Education and all other relevant Government departments—must take radical steps to shift the focus in mental health provision towards early intervention and prevention. This must ensure that all children and young people under the age of 25 can receive mental health support as early as possible...
Matched on
terms: children, health
Committee recommendation
68match
#7 - Eighth Report - Children and young people’s mental health
Commitments in the 2017 Green Paper and the NHS Long Term Plan have been taken seriously by NHS England and led to a significant expansion of provision. We are, however, concerned that many commitments may not yet be ambitious enough to ensure every young person with a diagnosable mental health condition can access care. Currently, waiting times for...
Matched on
terms: children, health
Committee recommendation
65match
#4 - Clarify required family court capacity and plans to resolve judge and social worker shortages.
Shortages in the number of district judges and social workers are contributing to delays, and to significant regional differences in timeliness of resolving cases. There are wide variations in durations of cases; for example, in December 2024, the average duration for public law cases was 24 weeks in Wales but 53 weeks in London (for private law, it...
Matched on
terms: shortage
Committee recommendation
64match
#36 - Eighth Report - Children and young people’s mental health
We are deeply concerned about the increasing numbers of children and young people who experience self-harm and suicide and the quality of care they are able to access. Much more needs to be done to tackle suicide and self-harm amongst children and young people. In particular, given the link between self-harm in children and young people and later...
Matched on
terms: children, health
Committee recommendation
63match
#2 - Fourth Report - The safety of maternity services in England
With 8 out of 10 midwives reporting that they did not have enough staff on their shift to provide a safe service, it is clear that urgent action is needed to address staffing shortfalls in maternity services. Evidence submitted to our inquiry estimates that as a minimum, there need to be 496 more obstetricians and 1,932 more midwives....
Matched on
terms: health, staff
Committee recommendation
63match
#51 - Tenth Report - The humanitarian situation in Tigray
The multiagency rapid needs assessment published in January 2021 noted there were no health services in the areas of Southern Tigray affected by the conflict, meaning that regular health service activities such as Maternal and Child Health, treatment of endemic diseases, and the supply of essential drugs for chronic illnesses had stopped.117 Many health facilities have few or...
Matched on
terms: children, health, staff
PFD report
61match
Sailor Court
Unacceptably long and increasing waiting times for CAMHS assessment and treatment, due to a severe lack of resources, pose a significant risk to young people's mental health.
Matched on
terms: health
Committee recommendation
61match
#9 - 12th Report – Menstrual health of girls and young women
The renewed Women’s Health Strategy should include an aim to improve the provision of school nurses, particularly in more deprived areas, where need is often greatest. Improving early access to care reduces the risk of symptoms worsening and the increased health and economic costs that accompany delayed treatment. Investment in school nursing would likely lead to savings over...
Matched on
terms: health
Committee recommendation
61match
#8 - 12th Report – Menstrual health of girls and young women
School nurses can play a crucial role in helping girls recognise menstrual problems and provide a necessary, early pathway to appropriate care. However, the school nurse system has seen a substantial overall reduction in funding over many years and is now severely under-resourced. Many pupils have no access at all to a school nurse. (Conclusion, Paragraph 44)
Matched on
terms: health
Committee recommendation
60match
#17 - Thirty-Seventh Report - Support for vulnerable adolescents
In 2021, a NHS survey showed nearly 1 in 5 of 6- to 16-year-olds in England had a probable mental health disorder. The survey also found that almost 40% had experienced a deterioration in mental health since 2017 and 13.5% of 11- to 16-year-olds felt their lives had been made ‘much worse’ by COVID-19 restrictions. Some children with...
Matched on
terms: children, health
Committee recommendation
60match
#19 - Thirty-Seventh Report - Support for vulnerable adolescents
The Department for Education also spoke about an NHS England consultation, which closed early in 2022, on introducing waiting time standards for community and A&E mental health care.48 The new standards would comprise a 24-hour standard for urgent community mental health care, a four-week standard for children and young people who need non-urgent community mental health care, and...
Matched on
terms: children, health
Committee recommendation
60match
#5 - Thirty-Seventh Report - Support for vulnerable adolescents
We are extremely concerned about the waiting time for children to receive support for mental health issues and about the proportion of adolescent girls seeking help. A survey found nearly 1 in 5 of 6- to 16-year-olds in England had a probable mental health disorder in 2021. The same survey also found that almost 40% had experienced a...
Matched on
terms: children, health
Inquiry recommendation
60match
BRIS-184 - Ensure children are cared for in paediatric environments by qualified professionals
Children should always (save in exceptional circumstances, such as emergencies) be cared for in a paediatric environment, and always by healthcare professionals who hold a recognised qualification in caring for children. This is especially so in relation to paediatric intensive care.
Matched on
terms: children, health
Inquiry recommendation
60match
BRIS-171 - Designate executive board member to protect children's interests in trusts
All trusts which provide services for children as well as adults, should have a designated executive member of the board whose responsibility it is to ensure that the interests of children are protected and that they are cared for in a paediatric environment by paediatrically trained staff.
Matched on
terms: children, staff
Inquiry recommendation
60match
BRIS-168 - Consider creating a Children's Commissioner for England to promote children's rights
Consideration should be given to the creation of an office of Children’s Commissioner in England, with the role of promoting the rights of children in all areas of public policy and seeking improvements to the ways in which the needs of children are met. Healthcare would be one of the areas covered by such a commissioner. Were such...
Matched on
terms: children, health
LGO / SPSO decision
60match
PSOW-202006042 - Aneurin Bevan University Health Board
Mr A complained that Aneurin Bevan University Health Board failed to diagnose his daughter, B, with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (“ADHD” – a condition that affects a person’s behaviour in terms of inattention and/or hyperactivity and impulsivity)in a timely manner as the 2 referrals that were made to the Integrated Service for Children with Additional Needs (“ISCAN”) in...
Matched on
terms: children, health
PFD report
57match
Helena Farrell
The report identifies an inadequate referral system and staffing levels at CAMHS, a failure to recognise the escalation of incidents, unrealistic expectations of the school nurse, and a lack of verification of the school counsellor's qualifications.
Matched on
terms: staff