We are delighted to share the announcement of the launch of the Child Health Alliance, which brings together key system leaders from children’s health, parents, young people and the voluntary and community sector – and includes iHV executive director, Dr Cheryll Adams CBE.

The Alliance is made possible through funding from the Department of Health and the support of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health and is co-chaired by Dame Christine Lenehan, Director of the Council For Disabled Children and Professor Ian Lewis. The Alliance will look at the current state of health services for children and young people in England, develop priorities, and identify key opportunities for improving children and young people’s health and wellbeing outcomes in England.

Whilst the UK has seen vast improvements to child and adolescent health over the last 30 years, a number of alarming statistics show that, comparatively, the UK is performing poorly on several measures of child health and wellbeing compared with other European countries.

Since the final report of the Children and Young People’s Health Outcomes Forum, there has been an ongoing process of transformation in the health and social care system. There is a pressing concern amongst the child health community that the key messages from the forum have not been taken into account throughout this process, and the voice of children and young people have not been listened to.

We will keep you updated on the work of the Alliance and hope you will support us in our task of ensuring that child health is a priority for government and health system leaders going forward.