Health services
Scotland's looked after children and young people will benefit from access to a range of appropriate services designed to meet their emotional, mental and physical health needs. Professionals, foster carers, residential workers, teaching staff and parents will be trained to understand the importance and value of meeting these needs. All of our looked after children and young people should grow to be emotionally, mentally and physically healthy.
'I had to get my social worker to request my mother’s death certificate as I did not know what she had died of…and the doctors were asking… in case it was anything genetic.'
Hayley
The health and wellbeing of Scotland’s children and young people is essential to the future health and wellbeing of our nation. Looked after children and young people and care leavers have historically experienced poorer health than their peers, and are less likely to engage with health services partly as a consequence of disruptive early family lives and sometimes due to being moved frequently when in care.
Looked after children and young people and care leavers are more likely to need specialist health services than their peers, whether Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, help with addictions or sexual health advice. For example, An Action Framework for Children and Young People's health in Scotland indicates that 40% of children in care will have mental or emotional health problems; this is considerably higher than their peers who are not looked after. However, they are also less likely to engage with universal health services such as GPs, dentists and opticians.
Addressing the needs of looked after children and young people, and care leavers, depends on effective assessment and planning. Better Health, Better Care (Scottish Government 2007) includes a commitment to addressing the health needs of looked after children and young people.
For the NHS across Scotland to play its part in the corporate family, health services must be able to identify the population of looked after children and young people accurately and councils must help them to do this. The NHS provides services to assess individual need, and provides access to therapeutic services resourced to meet those needs.
Transitions are crucial to looked after children and young people and care leavers, and health services must support children and young people as they move through the looked after system and into adult life, acknowledging and addressing the effects of their earlier lives in relation to all aspects of their health and ability to engage with services. Health professionals will also support parents, carers and professionals working with looked after children and young people and care leavers.
You will want to:
- make sure that whilst in the health board area the child or young person (either as an individual or through carers) is able to access primary medical care and specialist health services, as well as public health population-focused services identified and provided according to need.
- at NHS board level, actively seek to promote the needs of looked after children and young people and care leavers within service design and improving patient care.
Downloadable resources
Read the full version of this section of the Corporate Parenting Guidance on the Scottish Government website.
Personal stories
Dr Andrew Eccleston
How reducing health inequalities will make a big differnece to the lives of looked after children and young people.