Barnardo’s responds to the Hewitt Review of Integrated Care Systems

"The Hewitt Review comes at a crucial time for children and young people’s health, as Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) deal with the ongoing impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and new pressures from the cost-of-living crisis.  

“Barnardo’s welcomes the findings of the Hewitt review and the opportunities it has identified for ICSs to improve health and wellbeing, including through a focus on prevention. The foundations of good health are laid in childhood, so it is encouraging to see the review highlight the importance of giving every child the best possible start in life.  

“We support the review’s recommendation that ICSs embed the voices of children and young people into all levels of decision making. We are particularly pleased that the review references Barnardo’s Health Equity Collaborative, which launched this year. This partnership with University College London’s Institute of Health Equity and three ICSs in England will use data and insight to understand the challenges facing children’s health at a local level. This will inform a new framework to measure health inequalities and devise new approaches to improving children’s health and wellbeing.”