Every now and then I go for a run. I am a fair weather runner, but despite meteorological caveats, it’s still easy for me to exercise. I have always been active, I have a healthy pair of knees, I no longer have caring responsibilities (sadly my children are grown up and no longer need me to take them to and from places). And as you can see from the photo, I have an abundance of scenery on my doorstep through which to run.
But it is not always this easy for our patients or their families. For many children and young people, the opportunities to exercise outside of school are often non-existent. It can be easier to not mention a child’s lifestyle when seeing them, e.g. an asthma review. But I find that parents and sometimes CYP bring it up in response to my closing question “was there anything else you wanted to ask or talk about”.
So, what can we do as healthcare professionals to encourage things like regular exercise and a healthy diet as part of a healthy lifestyle?
When patients meet a clinician, this can be a teachable moment. An opportunity when timely advice may have impact and help patients reflect on and improve their lifestyle. At a UK level there is government focus on CYP lifestyle, for example, the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, high energy drinks ban and a planned 9pm watershed on advertising unhealthy foods. This is an ideal time for us to join in.
When you see parents, ask about their child’s activity. Find out what resources are available from your local dietitian and public health team. The College’s health inequalities toolkit can help with framing what you might worry is a difficult conversation. The soon-to-be-launched inequalities app will give you insight into your patients’ lived environment. But the medical profession cannot make this change it on its own; we need to work in partnership with education, local and national governments and the charity sector. The British Society of Lifestyle Medicine also has a suite of resources which you might find useful.
A final thought, if you have the time, is to get involved in running a sports club. In my time I have helped with children’s football, swimming and hockey clubs. And it turns out that the leader of my son’s running club is a paediatrician (thanks Avril!).
#WDYCD4U – Standards for emergency care settings
The 5th edition of the RCPCH Facing the Future: Standards for children and young people in emergency care settings have now been finalised and will be published in the next few weeks. The current version was published in 2018 and our new guidance reflects on the new challenges we face while continuing to support emergency department teams across the UK in delivering high-quality care.
Highlights include a new chapter on health inequalities and improvement, a stronger focus on adolescent needs and mental health, and fresh examples of best practice. We are very grateful to our Intercollegiate Committee for Emergency Care for their hard work over the past two years, as well as everyone who contributed to our stakeholder consultation; without their time and expertise it wouldn’t have been possible to update these important standards. Sign up to get a one-time email alert when the new standards are published.
First group of Gazan children arrive in UK for specialist medical treatment on the NHS
The Government has announced that a number of severely ill children from Gaza requiring urgent medical treatment have arrived safely in the UK and with their immediate families, as part of the Gaza medical evacuation operation. While the ongoing humanitarian crisis remains catastrophic for children, this, at least, is welcome news following the range of calls set out in our letter to Government. I know the paediatricians and teams who are looking after these young people will be working hard and at pace to do all they can to help. We thank you with all our hearts and stand with you in spirit.
Two opportunities to improve paediatric patient safety
Is there a clinical issue which has always give you concerns for patient safety? Here are two ways you can do something about it.
First, thanks to our Quality Improvement team for launching a partnership with NIHR Patient Safety Research Collaboration Network, SafetyNet, kickstarted with last week’s webinar on World Patient Safety day. Together with Dr Peter Lachman, Dr Cally Feather and Emma Sparrow, they explored how to practically address the five WHO priorities for paediatric patient safety, with a case study example of how research and QI can work together in this field. You can read about the background and aims of this partnership in a blog in the BMJ.
Now we need action to make progress in this field. Both RCPCH and NIHR SafetyNet have been clear from the start: we know the challenges and priority areas, but what next? The partnership aims to identify the specific questions to make progress while using expertise from a wide range of clinical, academic and lived experience experiences. If you're interested in this work, express your interest to contribute to this partnership.
New Child Health Workforce Alliance launched
I am delighted to announce the launch of a new Child Health Workforce Alliance. This is a collaboration between RCPCH and the National Children’s Bureau which unites over 25 leading organisations across health, education, and social care. The primary aim of this group is to ensure that the currently underfunded and overlooked child health workforce receives the attention and strategic focus in policymaking needed to help realise the government’s ambitions for children. Our first act is the publication of a policy briefing outlining the serious challenges faced by the child health workforce and a series of cross-sector solutions for government to consider as it plans its workforce strategy to sit alongside its 10 Year Health Plan for the NHS. Find out more about the Alliance and read our policy briefing.
Influencing activity in the devolved nations continues
Following on from our own successful manifesto launch in Wales we co-launched the Welsh Academy of Royal Colleges manifesto for the Senedd (Welsh Parliament) 2026 election. Our Wales Team were tasked with the development of this key document, providing a unique opportunity for our College to speak in unison with our peers to the next Government. You can read it here: Academy of Medical Royal Colleges Wales - AOMRC.
In Scotland we’ve been preparing to speak at the SNP Party Conference on the key themes of our manifesto, publishing in early October. Our Officer, Dr Mairi Stark will speak to a delegation on the need to prioritise children. Watch our comms as we update you on our advocacy across the political spectrum in advance of the Holyrood election 2026.
In Northern Ireland, we saw the publication of the Annual Health Inequalities Report showing a worrying 1.1 percentage point difference between the most and least disadvantaged in terms of infant mortality rates – a key measure of the health of a society. We keep this in our lobbying for not only paediatrics, but in advocating for inclusion in the Neo-Natal Audit and a regional Child Death Overview Process.
In case you missed it...
My last blog had a “back to school” theme. I noted then that our policy team had been thinking about the topic of school attendance, and what it means for our members. I am pleased to now share that RCPCH has come together with the Royal College of Nursing on a briefing for our members on the role of healthcare practitioners in promoting school attendance.
The briefing sets out troubling data about falling rates of school attendance across the four nations and serves as a timely reminder that healthcare appointments provide a unique opportunity to discuss school attendance and any barriers to this, as well as opportunities to put the right support in place for children and their families. Download and have a read for yourself!
Steve
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