Five people stand alongside an award winner, who holds their trophy above his head while smiling

Scottish Children’s Health Awards: nominations close soon

Posted 07.07.23 by Alice Hinds

Children’s Health Scotland is seeking nominations for the upcoming Scottish Children’s Health Awards – but there is not long left to enter.

Celebrating courageous children and young people, as well as teams and individuals making a difference to their health and wellbeing, the Awards are free to enter, and nominations can be made until 5pm on Friday 14 July.

Awards will be presented in following six categories:

Children’s Choice Award – someone special who has made a significant difference to a child or young person whilst they are undergoing treatment and whose care really stood out.

Health and Wellbeing Award – a nominee/team who has made a difference to the health and wellbeing of a child or young person in school, hospital or the community through treatment or advocacy.

Healthcare Rights Award – this award acknowledges the extraordinary steps taken by a nominee/team to advance the healthcare rights of children and young people.

Health-Related Play Award – someone special, or perhaps a special team, who has made a significance difference to a child’s life through health-related play.

Improving Life Experiences Award – a nominee who has made a difference to the confidence and resilience of a child or young person, so they are better able to deal with their current difficulties, or develop basic skills and habits to help them deal with challenges later in life.

Young Achiever Award – any child or young person who has gone above and beyond, showing enormous courage in their life, and never giving up.

This year, a Lifetime Achievement Award will also be presented to a health professional who the judges believe has made outstanding contributions to the health and wellbeing of children and young people.

Helen Forrest, chief executive for Children’s Health Scotland, said: “The Scottish Children’s Health Awards provide the perfect opportunity to praise amazing people and organisations that are making such a difference to the health and wellbeing of children and young people.

“We are delighted that once again journalist and TV presenter, Catriona Shearer, will interview all the winners to share their stories whilst helping us to present the awards at our ‘Bear’s Tea Party’ in the Balmoral Hotel, Edinburgh.”

To find out more and make your nominations, click here to visit the Scottish Children’s Health Awards page: childrenshealthscotland.org/events/awards

National Care Service consultation: Concerns over lack of detail for children’s services and unrealistic timeframe

10 November 2021

Children in Scotland has responded to the Scottish Government’s Consultation on the National Care Service, raising concerns about a lack of clarity in the proposals, the complexities of the proposed new structure and the timeframe of implementation.

Although recognising the value of creating a more coherent system, we are concerned about how the proposals align with commitments to improve work in a number or areas, including through The Promise and transitions for children and young people with support needs.

Reflecting the concerns from our membership, we highlight a lack of communication with the children’s sector and clarity on how children’s services will be fully integrated.

We share concerns, drawn from our membership and consultation activity, that the key role of the third sector is missed in the consultation documents, and worry the heavy focus on social work and statutory services will only exacerbate the lack of parity between third sector and statutory services.

We also question the rationale of implementing significant structural change at a time when families and support services are struggling to recover from the impact of the pandemic.

Amy Woodhouse, Head of Policy, Projects and Participation, said:

“The proposals are complex, with potentially significant consequences for those who deliver and access children’s and youth services.

"We share our members' concerns over the lack of detail in how the children’s sector and the services currently offered would be integrated into the new structure and both the short and long-term implications of doing so.

“We suggest the Scottish Government undertakes a more detailed analysis of the evidence relating to outcomes for children and young people through the range of structures that currently exist, investing in strengthening those and seeing through their commitments to change and improvement before undertaking such complex and significant structural change.

“With this in mind, we believe the proposed timeframe of introducing National Care Service legislation before summer 2022 is unrealistic and call for the government to review and adjust their plans accordingly.”

Our response also calls for more consideration of the potential impact on funding across non-statutory children’s services, how a new GIRFE (Getting it right for Everyone) approach would work in practice and evidence of a child rights and wellbeing approach to the National Care Service plans.

Click here to read our consultation response in full

A National Care Service for Scotland

Find out more about the Scottish Government's consultation

Click to visit the website

Children in Scotland Manifesto 2021-26

Our manifesto outlines key changes in policy and legislation to improve the lives of children and families

Click to find out more

Consultation work and call for evidence

We have responded to a number of consultations on behalf of our members and our wider network

Click to read more responses

Join us in membership

Be part of the largest Scottish children's sector membership organisation

Click to find out more

Children’s intimate healthcare needs in schools must be met. So who’s responsible?

Children in Scotland is calling for clearer guidance on the role of school staff in meeting pupils’ healthcare needs.

Enquire, the Scottish Advice Service for Additional Support for Learning, has received calls from parents who go into school to administer medicine or meet their child’s intimate care needs on a regular basis.

Amy Woodhouse, Head of Policy at Children in Scotland, said:

“There is evidence that intimate care, for example meeting toileting needs and administering medicine, is an issue of concern for both school support staff and parents of children who have additional support needs.

“Some parents have told us that they have to take time off work to go into school to meet their child’s needs, and in some cases are unable to work as a result of this.

“It also has a negative impact on the child’s capacity to develop greater independence.

“The Scottish Government’s new guidance on meeting children’s healthcare needs in school is an opportunity to clarify the role and responsibility of school staff to meet pupils’ healthcare needs in an appropriate and respectful way.”

Children in Scotland and Enquire have submitted a joint response to the Scottish Government’s Consultation on Guidance on Healthcare Needs in Schools.