NHS confirms plans to expand Child Health Hubs across North-West London
The NHS’s plan will see the numbers of Child Health Hubs across North-West London rise from 24 to 45, benefiting children and families. By doing so, the ICB will provide a hub in every local GP network by 2027 to improve coverage across the eight boroughs.
The Child Health Hubs will also adapt to local needs and prioritise community involvement, offering additional support for areas with larger populations or demands.
The hubs would function as a shared setting where multi-disciplinary team meetings and shared clinics would bring the opinions of GPs, pediatricians and specialist teams together. The central aim of the initiative is to provide high-quality community-based services which could reduce the need for outpatient appointments, A&E visits and hospital admissions.
For families from disadvantaged backgrounds, this could be particularly beneficial by overcoming access issues by having expert advice close by.
Low parental confidence and access issues are two key reasons why young children continue to be the highest attending population group for urgent and emergency services, although over half of their concerns do not require investigation or treatment.
Child Health Hubs have the potential to develop parents’ knowledge of their children’s health by providing an accessible and welcoming shared space of advice. The rise of Child Health Hubs may also lessen hospital admissions, by being able to solve complex health issues which require multi-disciplinary teams, which have traditionally only been present within hospitals.
Child Health Hubs are based on the Connecting Care for Children (CC4C) model. One of the four pillars of the model includes a principle of dividing the child population into segments based on their health needs. This will allow the hubs to provide more efficient ways of supporting children that need early intervention, including those with long-term conditions. Individuals can face educational, social and economic challenges due to a lack of attentive healthcare in their childhood, making early attention to these concerns important.
Child Health Hubs have been well established in Northwest London for more than 10 years and have continued to prove cost effective and efficient, according to the NIHR (Applied Research Collaboration Northwest London).
Child Health Hubs have also not just helped children but parents, carers and professionals as well. Professionals have noted that CHHs provide a more joyful work experience based on relationships and shared knowledge and skills – and less about referral thresholds. It has helped parents increase their exposure to child centres for support with sleep, breast feeding, and play group activities.
