Agenda item

An update will be provided for the board on a consultation completed by the NHS in Leicester, Leicestershire, and Rutland (LLR). A large-scale engagement was launched to better understand the health and wellbeing needs of children and young people aged 11-25, along with their families and the healthcare staff who support them. This initiative aimed to gather insights into their experiences, priorities, and challenges in accessing healthcare, ensuring their voices shape future services.

The Engagement Officer for the Young Voices Consultation provided the update. It was noted that:

• The action plan considered things that were done well and that needed improving to be implemented in 2025/26.
• This was the first large scale engagement with children and young people that was youth led. It focused on inclusivity and was the foundation for ongoing conversations to improve health outcomes and experiences for children and young people.
• The Consultation had been influenced by the Lundy Model.
• It had been considered brave for the NHS to commission the VCS to hear children’s and young people’s voices through creative methods.
• Data gathering was concluded October 2025. There was a celebration event led by young people and the findings were shared with the ICB.
• A short video was created, featuring young people to explain the findings in a more appropriate way for children and young people.
• 3002 individuals participated in the survey including 2239 11- to 25-year-olds, 682 parents and carers and 81 Healthcare staff. The survey was conducted online and via a hard copy with an easy read version available. There were also creative focus groups.
• The results were for the whole of Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland. This had created complexities in data collection.

• The key insights were:
  • That the healthcare experience was generally positive, although parents and carers were less satisfied.
  • When young people were ill, they first sought advice from parents and used the internet as their next step.

• Key concerns were:
  • Mental health and wellbeing including school stress, social media, bullying, family breakdown and poor sleep. Loneliness was also listed for young carers. Barriers to addressing these concerns included a lack of awareness of what mental health services were available and how to access them.
  • Access and transitions in care were also raised because young people were often having to repeat their health story multiple times, transitions between child and adult services were unclear and young people sometimes felt they were not heard or taken seriously by healthcare professionals.
• Healthcare professionals commented that they wanted more support, particularly around mental health resources as well as improvement of referral pathways so they were more joined up.

• Next steps were:
  • An engagement strategy.
  • A move to digitalisation.
  • Moving healthcare into community settings.
  • Ramping up children, young peoples and families’ voices.
  • Identify missing voices and engaging with those communities.
  • Improving communications.
  • Co-designing with young people.
  • Work with VCS to improve engagement and create information flow.
  • Improving experiences of services including transitions.

In response to comments from members, it was noted that:

·       This work demonstrated the importance of identifying gaps to understand what was missing and that staff understand all the different pathways.

·       A stronger parental voice may enhance the welfare and experiences of children.

·       The transition from children to adult services had been described as ‘falling off a cliff’.

·       Parents and carers were often dissatisfied with waiting times.

·       The medical jargon was cited as a barrier for children and young people.

·       Parents often felt they had to become experts in their condition and fight for their children’s care.

·       Young mothers complained that they were often accused of being hysterical and not listened to.

·       Children matured at different ages meaning pathways needed to provide some flexibility.

·       The action plan was in consultation.

Agreed:

1. The update was noted.
2. A report to come back to the Board, including the action plan that was currently in consultation.