Posted on: 15 July 2022
Hello, my name is Sayma, and I have the privilege of working for West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership. Co-production is a key principle that most people working in healthcare recognise and it forms the theme of my blog this week on children and young people.
A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of meeting and listening to some inspirational young members from the National NHS Youth Forum as I attended the NHS Confederation Expo conference in Liverpool. I listened in awe at how these young people have been influencing national policy for children and young people through stakeholder engagement, increasing the use of digital provision, highlighting the impact of the pandemic on young people and the importance of co- production amongst an audience that also included the Chief Executive Officer of NHS England Amanda Pritchard.
I realised how far we have come in the journey to amplify the voice of those we serve when designing and delivering health care. Truly driving forward change and innovation in our health and social care systems by championing the voice of children and young people. And whilst there is always more to do, it reminded me of how important it is to take a moment to reflect, recognise and respond to the progress made thus far. During my time working in the NHS so far, I have never heard the voice of children and young people amplified as loud as it is currently. It is truly humbling to hear, and we must remain ambitious in continuing to champion the voice of our young people and families.
Looking closer to home across the West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership, we have had the privilege over the last two years of being supported by an active and diverse Youth Collective who equally inspire, promote, and influence the work we are doing for children, young people and families across our Partnership that serves a population of 2.4million of which approximately 770,000 are children and young people. It is through engaging and listening to our children and young people that we know period poverty, exam stress, loneliness, widening inequalities, the impact of long covid and young carers are some of the key areas of focus for us. In collaboration with our Youth Collective to address the challenges highlighted by young people, we have designed ‘Be Kind’ postcards as part of the looking out for each other campaign to address loneliness. We have supported the launch of a young carers’ health app and influenced the covid vaccination roll out for young people who were clinically and extremely vulnerable.
Our Youth Collective is also a key partner in designing the content for the mental health pages on our recently launched WY Healthier Together.nhs.uk website. An online platform that provides clinical advice for children, young people and families and signposts users to local health and care services. The website has a repository of resources when looking for activities for children and young people to do across West Yorkshire which means we influence for wider uptake of physical activity amongst rising childhood obesity levels.
So where do we go from here?
To continue amplifying the voice of children and young people across West Yorkshire we are planning a number of exciting new initiatives. We have plans to establish a young people’s Shadow Board across West Yorkshire so that our representative young people can influence decision making through the Children Young People and Families Integrated Care Board. This means the voice of young people has the potential to be heard at a key governance group for children and young people across West Yorkshire.
We are also designing a West Yorkshire wide children and young people engagement event which will be co- hosted with our young people to share, celebrate and identify new opportunities across our wider system to tackle health inequalities in collaboration with all sectors across health and care, and in partnership with young people. The West Yorkshire children and young people commissioners’ group is reviewing the impact of co-production across local places. This means we can continue to create connectivity through sharing of good practice on co-production. And we are focusing on progressing the themes from a recently held Youth Collective workshop which includes challenges on climate change.
We are also responding to a recent national survey carried out by the National NHS Youth Forum for young people. 53% of respondents informed us there is limited work experience opportunities to gain relevant insights into healthcare careers.
As a result, we are looking at this issue through an inequalities lens and reviewing how we can support young people leaving care, those with special educational needs and disabilities and those living in poverty with ways to secure rotational work experience placements across West Yorkshire’s health and care system so that young people have a better chance at securing roles in healthcare in the future. This means we have an opportunity to strengthen the local economy growth, improve the skills of young people as we create better development opportunities and close the gaps in inequality. Some key requisites of newly formed statutory Integrated Care Systems.
Our ways of working in collaboration with young people across West Yorkshire means decisions on planning, service improvement and reducing inequalities in health and care for children and young people is now starting to be informed by those on the receiving end of services. This is a true step change in how we work together for a better future for all.
So, I will leave you with a few parting thoughts to consider. When you are next reviewing a clinical pathway for children and young people, reflect on how a young person could help influence your decisions. When you are agreeing to commission a new or existing service, recognise the opportunity to involve those you serve. And when you are reviewing the impact of a healthcare strategy or refreshing one, take a moment to think how you would respond if a young person asked you how their perspective has or is shaping priorities and improving health and life outcomes.
Have a lovely weekend,
Sayma