RCPCH Wales Website: www.rcpch.ac.uk/wales
Sgroliwch i lawr i weld yn y Gymraeg
It's Time Wales Started Putting Children First An open letter to political parties ahead of the Senedd election With only a few weeks to go before the Senedd election, we write as members and supporters of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) Wales to urge you to support our call and make the health and wellbeing of babies, children and young people a national priority. A healthy childhood is the foundation for good physical and mental health in adulthood. Yet every day, child health professionals across Wales see significant challenges facing children and their families: •
Long waiting times for care and treatment, with mounting pressures on an overstretched workforce
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A third of our children growing up in poverty
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A quarter of our 4-5 year olds overweight or obese
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The rate of children and young people with a diagnosable mental health condition doubling over the past two decades.
Children’s needs have too often been overlooked in a health system largely designed around adults. We cannot continue like this. Children cannot wait another Senedd term for things to change. The status quo is not an option. Children in Wales deserve to know they are a priority. We call on all political parties to put children at the centre of policymaking, address the historic underfunding of child health services and support the workforce that cares for them.