Community paediatrics in the future: a personal view

Abstract 

Children are getting healthier year by year, yet there are increasing demands being put on services. More care is being delivered in the community and there are more children with chronic handicap for whom more can be done. Parental expectations are also higher than they have ever been. The whole of the provision of health care to children is at a crossroads. There is a need to strengthen the care of children in the community and as part of this there will be more subspecialization in disability, social paediatrics, child mental health, audiology and public health. The traditional distinction between hospital and community paediatrics needs to be changed. Children should be cared for by consultant paediatricians, most of whom will have a special interest. A comprehensive service for the future needs to be built around the needs of a population of children. Any individual paediatrician will not be able to provide for all of these needs but a team will. A model is suggested of a locality team of paediatricians linking into district and tertiary services via managed networks of care.

Keywords: KEYWORDS:community paediatrics, managed networks of care, disability, children, service configuration

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• f1 Correspondence to: AWC. Tel.: +44 (0)191 202 3010; Fax: +44 (0)191 202 3022; E-mail: a.w.craft@ncl.ac.uk