Paul Maynard – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Maynard on 2016-04-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what specialist support is available for health visitors in diagnosing and referring children with cerebral palsy.
Jane Ellison
There are no plans to establish a national register of children with cerebral palsy. PACE, the charity which supports children and families affected by motor disorders such as cerebral palsy indicates that the current United Kingdom incidence rate of cerebral palsy is around one in 400 births and that approximately 1,800 children are diagnosed with cerebral palsy every year.
It is the responsibility of the professional regulators to set the standards and outcomes for education and training and approve training curricula to ensure newly qualified healthcare professionals are equipped with the knowledge, skills and attitudes to provide high quality patient care. This includes training to diagnose and provide care for children with cerebral palsy.
Health Education England works with bodies that set curricula such as the General Medical Council and the royal colleges to seek to ensure training meets the needs of patients.
Employers are responsible for ensuring that staff receive appropriate development to continue to deliver safe and effective healthcare.
The Health Visitor training programme is not a condition specific programme of training. Health Visitors are all qualified nurses and/or midwives with a broad range of clinical skills. They undertake an additional year of training to be a health visitor during which they specialise in child and family issues.
Health Visitors can support families with a child with cerebral palsy in the management of the clinical aspects of the condition. They can also advise on links to other specialist services, resources and groups to support the needs of the family and the child.
The Department has asked the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence to prepare a clinical guideline on the diagnosis and management of cerebral palsy. It is expected to be published in January 2017.
