Originally published in the Yorkshire Post
More than 300,000 South Yorkshire children are faring worse than the national average for health outcomes and rates of deprivation and tackling the issues that impact on their lives has always demanded something different from us as clinicians and child health researchers working in the area.
Some children suffer from rare and little understood diseases. Beyond the tally of more familiar physical conditions such as asthma and diabetes, there are significant growing issues of poor mental health and obesity in children and young people. There are also problems related to children’s welfare, wellbeing and the fact that we – as a community - simply do not spend enough time listening to children about what works best for them.
As research specialists at ºù«Ӱҵ’s two universities and the children’s hospital, we are used to working on many of these challenges. However, we realised that our work could be strengthened immeasurably by pooling knowledge and practical experience of the issues that impact most on South Yorkshire’s children.
We have some of the highest deprivation rates, health inequalities and worst health outcomes in the country, but by working together with our communities, we are committed to improving life for future generations.
We know that beyond sharing information, we could all reap even greater benefits by sharing a more strategic approach and a single vision which focused on child health in South Yorkshire – for example by joining forces on funding bids to help us further develop our expertise in specialised areas.
The upshot of all this is the creation of South Yorkshire Children & Young People’s Health Research Network, or SCYPHeR.
The idea of SCYPHeR is very simple, but it actually represents a radically different approach to working across institutions, not least because it brings together a critical mass of healthcare clinicians and social scientists – to cover the whole spectrum of children’s health and well-being.
It is different too because, for the first time, we have a formal and strategic working relationship with our colleagues across the three institutions. This will ensure there is a joined up approach and a direct link between the groundbreaking research taking place at the Universities and the patient experience within the hospital, allowing children and young people in South Yorkshire access to revolutionary treatments and therapies.
The mix of health and social science expertise is critical because it means we can coordinate and prioritise work on issues that impact on both the health of young people in our area and our response to it. Our strategic approach is mirrored in the six themes which guide all our work: rare disease, child welfare, health inequalities, child health technologies and the voice of the child.
Reducing health inequalities and giving our children and young people the best start in life can only have a beneficial impact on their health, wellbeing and happiness throughout their childhood and indeed into their adult lives. Even before its launch, SCYPHeR has inspired a series of seminars for sharing information between the three partners and encouraged us to apply for a £9m grant that we would otherwise have never even considered.
Our three institutions don’t always shout about what we do but we have track records of delivering ground-breaking research with children and young people.
The children’s hospital is one of just three dedicated children’s hospitals in England and a research-active institution leading work on delivering first in human gene therapies for rare diseases and ground-breaking research on childhood diseases. The University of ºù«Ӱҵ and ºù«Ӱҵ Hallam University likewise have specialisms that focus on research with children and young people, such as applied health research at Hallam and work shaping policy for provisions for care leavers in higher education at the University of ºù«Ӱҵ. Our work continues to help shape outcomes and practice for children and young people internationally.
So, we are actually in a really special place because of our expertise and the reputation we have each developed. Creating SCYPHeR is a way of capitalising on this, and allowing us to think differently, cross fertilise ideas and look, for example, at how we integrate projects happening across the region such as work on child health technologies to improve our response to child health issues.
Dr Meena Balasubramanian is clinical director for research at ºù«Ӱҵ Children's Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Dr Katie Ellis is senior lecturer in child welfare at the University of ºù«Ӱҵ and Professor is professor of Child Health at ºù«Ӱҵ Hallam University.