The responsibility for leadership of the Healthy Child Programme is with Public Health England (PHE).<\/p>
The Healthy Child Programme is the Government\u2019s framework that underpins PHE\u2019s priority to give every child the best start in life. The Best Start in Life Board meets bimonthly, jointly chaired by PHE and a local authority Chief Executive. The Board has cross-government representation from the Department of Health, Department for Education, Department for Work and Pensions, and Department for Communities and Local Government.<\/p>
The Department has commissioned PHE to undertake a review of the delivery of the universal elements of 0-5 services, mandated to local authorities, and will report later this year.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4019", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Oxford West and Abingdon"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Nicola Blackwood"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2016-10-12", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2016-10-12T09:24:53.35Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "17"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Health"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Health"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2016-09-14", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Health: Children"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the implementation of the Healthy Child Programme; and what recent meetings (a) Ministers and (b) officials of his Department have had to discuss that Programme.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/473", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Sir Mark Hendrick"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Preston"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Mr Mark Hendrick"} ], "uin" : "46403"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/577551", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department of Health"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/577551/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
The Government is committed to achieving good health outcomes for children and young people. Local authorities are responsible for commissioning appropriate services for 0-19 year olds in their areas, including health visiting and school nursing. Public Health England monitors a range of health outcomes for children, provided by Local authorities, including the health visiting services\u2019 high impact actions, such as reducing smoking in pregnancy and managing a healthy weight in 4-5 year olds. The majority of these show a steady state of improvement[1].<\/p>
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Whilst no similar collection of data is made for school nursing services, and therefore no assessment has been made, school nurses are key providers of both the National Child Measurement Programme and childhood immunisations, both of which show significant uptake rates[2].<\/p>
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Both the Health Visitor Programme and School Nurse Programme, which concluded in 2015, introduced new service models for both professions to help develop improved access, user experience and outcomes, as well as reducing health inequalities. The Health Visitor programme also saw the workforce increase considerably enabling more families to be reached. Both professional groups indicate the service models have provided increased awareness of the service by users and a better structured delivery.<\/p>
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[1] Chimat Early Years Profiles<\/p>