How we’ll give every baby the best start in life | Early Years Healthy Development Review
Last year we set out our plans to support every family so they can give their baby the best start for life. Today marks the next step in this journey, as we announce a new vision for the first 1,001 days, a critical time in our development.
A baby’s experiences in those first 1,001 days are vital to shaping his or her lifelong emotional and physical health. Leading child health experts agree that the care given during the first 1,001 days has more influence on a child’s future than at any other time in their life.
From birth to age 18 months, it has been calculated that connections in the brain are created at a rate of a million per second.
This should be an age of opportunity for all children, laying the foundations for their development, adaptability and resilience. We know that this early work can contribute to somebody’s future health, wellbeing, learning and even earning potential.
Securely attached infants are much more likely to go on to become adults who cope well with life’s ups and downs, build strong relationships at work and at home, and are better equipped to raise their own children. We know most babies receive loving care, but for every new parent or carer the new arrival is at times a challenging and exhausting experience, and it is clear there is more support needed to make sure everyone fulfils their potential.
To put this right, we set up our Early Years Healthy Development Review, which has spoken to parents, carers, professionals and volunteers right across the country. It was evident that while there is a lot of brilliant work being done, for far too many families the quality and consistency of the support they get depends on where they live.
We must put this right. The coronavirus pandemic has shone a spotlight on some of the stark inequalities in the health and wellbeing of our nation and, it’s imperative that we do everything we can to level up the nation’s health and care provision too.
The Plan provides six areas where we can take action, to make sure families have access to the services they need, and that the Start for Life system is giving the best possible support.
First, we will encourage all local authorities to publish a clear Start for Life offer for parents in their area laying out services and support. A baby’s development can be dramatically improved with early and effective support for parents, so it’s vital they are aware of, and able to access, the support available to them.
Second, we’ll champion Family Hubs, making them a place for families to access support, advice and Start for Life services. Family Hubs deliver holistic early intervention services to a whole community, bringing together different types of support together for families to help resolve their issues.
Third, we’ll make sure families have the information they need, when they need it by designing digital, virtual and telephone services around the needs of the family, including digitising the Personal Child Health Record, commonly known as the Red Book. By placing family voices at the centre of these initiatives we will create new systems which make it as easy as possible for families to access the information and support they need to support their baby.
We will also work to develop a skilled, empowered and integrated Start for Life workforce, to meet the changing needs of families with babies.
But it’s not enough to make one-off changes. Services must constantly iterate and improve to ensure they continue to meet the needs of families. We’ll continue to work across the whole Start for Life system, to hold local services to account where necessary, including through proportionate inspection. This will make sure parents and babies receive the best quality support, no matter their background or where in the country they grow up.
Finally, we’ll make sure these recommendations are delivered, by encouraging local areas to nominate a designated Leader for Change, adding greater accountability to make sure changes are made where they are needed.
This is a strong set of recommendations that will put us in strong stead for the future. As we build back better from this coronavirus crisis, we must do everything in our power to support all families in giving their baby the best start in life.
Matt Hancock is health secretary; Andrea Leadsom is a former cabinet minister
