Youngsters Question NHS Chiefs Over Their Care - RCPCH Responds

BBC Radio 1's Aled Jones will be hosting 'The Big Discussion,' an event organised jointly by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health's Youth Advisory Panel and Birmingham Children's Hospital's Young Persons' Advisory Group, to give young people the opportunity to question NHS decision makers over concerns they have around their health care.

Representatives from various councils and hospitals as well as the Care Quality Commission, NHS England, the Department of Health and the National Institute for health and Care Excellence will be at the event held on Wednesday 16 April in Birmingham. There will also be a keynote speech from Children's Commissioner of England Maggie Atkinson and NHS England Head of Patient Experience Kath Evans.

President of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, Dr Hilary Cass, issues the below statement in support of the event:

"For the majority of children, they rarely need to use hospital services but if they do fall ill, they deserve to have access to the highest standard of care possible. In order to do this, it's vital that we listen to young people themselves because as adults, we're never going to get it right on our own.

"This first UK wide discussion, jointly organised by the RCPCH's Youth Advisory Panel and Birmingham Children's Hospital's YPAG , is an excellent way for them to communicate their needs to the very people who are responsible for the services they use. Now all we need is for these people to listen and act so services up and down the country have the same high standard of care young people are entitled to."

Ends.

Press Contact:

To find out more about the event, please contact Anna Sykes, Senior Communications Manager for Birmingham Children's Hospital on 0121 333 8504 or email her at Anna.Sykes@bch.nhs.uk .