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Brown’s new cabinet boosts children’s palliative care |
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ACT and ACH welcome Alan Johnson as Health Secretary and Ed Balls as Schools and Children’s Secretary
ACH and ACT, who represent children’s palliative care services and the families these services support, have warmly welcomed Alan Johnson and Ed Balls to their new positions as Secretary of State for Health and Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families respectively.
Lizzie Chambers, Chief Executive of ACT, said:
“This is very encouraging news for life-limited children and their families. The Department of Health is just starting to implement a review of children’s palliative care services in England. We look forward to working with Alan Johnson and his colleagues to see that this is delivered in full, including ensuring that services for life-limited children and disabled children are planned together.
“In their previous jobs at Education and Treasury, Alan Johnson and Ed Balls oversaw a ground-breaking joint review of services for disabled children, the recommendations of which should also benefit children with palliative care needs. We wish Ed Balls every success in making the review a reality.”
Barbara Gelb, Chief Executive of ACH, added:
“The new ministers will have their work cut out. Families are suffering as children’s palliative care services across England are cutting back and closing down. The emergency money given to English children’s hospices will run out in 2009. We need action now and substantial new money in the forthcoming Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR).
“We will be urging both ministers to put real pressure on local health and social services to improve children’s palliative care. As a start, we hope to see children’s palliative care services included in the indicator for disabled children that is being developed as part of the CSR.
“We also hope Alan Johnson will invest the £3 million needed to set up the children’s palliative care networks recommended by the review. These will ensure that local health and social services understand and commission the services families so badly need.”
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