CHILDREN
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Improving the health of children
and youth is a priority of the NSW Government and South Western Sydney Area Health Service
(SWSAHS). It is acknowledged that there is a lack of consistency in defining the
population of young people. This Plan will focus on children aged 0-14 years of age. This
group comprises 24% of the Area’s population and has the challenge of promoting good
health and effectively treating illness to maximise outcome in adulthood.
The
Strategic Plan for Health Improvement for Children in South Western Sydney has
been developed with reference to national and statewide
initiatives regarding the health of children and the specific
goals of SWSAHS.
In June
1995, Health Ministers endorsed a national health policy for children and young people, The
Health of Young Australians. This policy encompasses a broad social view of health,
and sets out a national framework within which the States and Territories can develop and
implement detailed responses to agreed policy directions.
The
Health of Young Australians includes a commitment to progressing the
national goals and targets for children and youth. The
achievement of these goals and targets will require health
services to shift resources and increase flexibility in service
delivery. The following goals and targets affect the primary,
secondary and tertiary systems, and require the development of
strong intersectoral approaches and partnership with the target
group.
The
goals and targets which have significance for this plan are: -
- To reduce premature
preventable mortality (including) injury, adolescent suicide, Aboriginal infant mortality
and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome;
- To reduce the impact of
disability;
- To reduce the incidence
of vaccine preventable disease;
- To reduce the impact of
conditions occurring in adulthood, but which have their origins or early manifestations in
childhood or early adolescence;
- To enhance family and
social functioning by incorporating and quantifying social determinants of health and
provide interventions to improve health.
These
goals have been identified as service objectives related to the goals, which the Area
considers necessary to achieve better health of children in SWS.
NSW has
also identified mental health and gender issues as priority areas in the draft NSW Child
Health Policy which is to be released shortly for comment.
Since
development of an Area Paediatric Plan commenced, the Macarthur planning process
commenced. Children were one of the four groups targeted in a needs analysis undertaken in
Macarthur as part of this process. This has highlighted a number of issues associated with
children in that Sector. These issues will be explored in the Macarthur Health Plan which
will be completed in mid 1996.
This
plan builds on the considerable effort and consultation which occurred in the development
of the Area’s first draft Paediatric Services Strategic Plan. The Plan identifies the
major issues affecting the achievement of equity and access and comprehensive paediatric
services in SWS. It presents strategies to achieve the goals and targets which have been
established to achieve improvement in child health. Developments in inpatient services,
community services and the effect of the relocation of Royal Alexandria Hospital for
Children to Westmead are also described.
The
following key strategic policy directions were identified in The Health of Young
Australians:
- Promotion of healthy
supportive environments through appropriate policies, programs and services by all levels
of Government;
- Provision of health
services that focus on the needs of consumers and have a commitment to participation of
young people and families in decisions about health;
- Development of a
balanced approach between strategies which actively promote good health through
environmental and behavioral change, and those which provide care and treatment for ill
health;
- Reduction in inequities
in the availability of, and access to, the range of appropriate health services;
- Greater coordination and
collaboration within the health sector and between health and other sectors through the
development of cooperative strategies;
- Regular monitoring of
the health of children and young people complemented by research targeting priority areas;
and
- Development of a
workforce with the skills and knowledge to work effectively in the maintenance and
enhancement of health of young Australians together with increased emphasis on the
training needs of people whose work relates to the health of children and young people.
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