The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) Children and Young People’s Engagement Team works to ensure that the voice of children, young people and families is used to improve health care for young patients. RCPCH &Us, launched in April 2015, have engaged with over 7,000 children, young people and families up until January 2020, with 1,000 professional members of their Engagement Collaborative.This chapter explores how the ‘RCPCH &Us’ network and Engagement Collaborative actively seeks and shares the views of children, young people and families to influence and shape health policy and practice. This includes examples of consultation, engagement and co-production with children and young people (CYP) creating a new approach to sharing information, informing standards, improving understanding and creating better services.‘Close your eyes. Think of your biggest secret…. Think of the one that makes you feel sick in your stomach. Keep thinking. How would you feel if I told you to tell a room of strangers your secret? This is how infants, children and young people can sometimes feel about health. In the dark and afraid, not sure if the person they are going to tell will understand their secret or be able to help them.’ Takeover Challenge RCPCH &Us Wales young people, 2016Being in the dark about appointments, discussions, policymaking and decision-making is a challenge for most children and young people we have worked with. Our aim is to make sure that everyone feels they are informed, consulted, involved and represented in healthcare policy and practice.The health of infants and CYP is at the core of everything that the RCPCH does.
There is increasing interest in young people’s participation in the design and delivery of health services. But young people’s views are not consistently sought or acknowledged, and they are still often marginalised in healthcare encounters.Drawing on original research and a diverse range of practice examples, Brady explores the potential for inclusive and diverse approaches to young people’s participation in health services from the perspectives of young people, health professionals and other practitioners.She presents a practical new framework, embedded in children’s rights, that shows how young people’s participation can be integrated into services in ways that are meaningful, effective and sustainable.This book explores how young people’s participation can be inclusively and sustainably embedded into health services. Using rich case studies of participation in practice, Brady presents a new evidence-based framework to support policymakers and practitioners to embed young people’s participation more effectively in healthcare practice.