Child Health Service (Report) (Hansard, 16 December 1976)

§ Mr. Ennals

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education and Science, and my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Wales and I have today published the Report of the Committee on Child Health Services under the Chairmanship of Professor Court (Cmnd. 6684–2 Volumes). I wish to express our thanks to Professor Court and his colleagues for all the work that they have done over the last three years to produce a valuable and farseeing report which will stimulate widespread debate on the future pattern of the child health services.

As the Committee says in its report, while the improvements in the health of our children during this century have been spectacular and heartening, much remains to be done. The Committee's report highlights the change in the pattern of childhood ill-health which has left chronic illness, handicap and ill-health arising from family stress and breakdown as the principal health problems for children today. The point is also made that children already suffering disadvantage for social and geographical reasons often suffer double disadvantage on account of poor services; and that in the long run only a combined approach from housing, health, education and social services can even begin to eradicate the causes of the initial disadvantage. This applies particularly to inner urban areas. The Government share these convictions, and are doing all they can, within the resources available, to correct the maldistribution of services and to improve their co-ordination.

The Committee also emphasises that much childhood ill-health is preventible, and a primary aim of today's services must be to promote good health and to prevent disease. The Committee stresses the importance of encouraging parents and young people to take a greater personal responsibility for their health, and 820W welcomes the consultative document "Prevention and health: everybody's business" (HMSO) published earlier this year.

The Committee's recommendations, which call for major changes in the overall pattern of child health services, must be widely discussed before decisions are taken on the principles involved. The Committee recognised that many of its recommendations have very significant resource implications, particularly in respect of manpower and training, and must therefore be seen as longterm objectives which, if accepted in principle, can be achieved only over a long period as the economic recovery of the nation proceeds and the present very severe restraints on public expenditure can be eased. It is against this background that discussions will need to take place. There are, however, a number of recommendations involving little or no additional resources. Moreover, in the spring my predecessor my right hon. Friend the Member for Blackburn (Mrs. Castle) and my colleague, my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Wales, published consultative documents on priorities for the health and personal social services during the next three or four years. Like the Court Committee, we suggested that services for children were among those needing priority, and we emphasised particularly improvements in special care for the most vulnerable new-born babies; and expansion of health visitor services for preschool children. We referred also to the importance of maintaining the quality of health services for schools.

We shall be asking interested organisations and individuals for their early comments on the report. The recommendations and the comments we receive will be among the many factors to be taken into account in preparing plans for the future development of the health services.