Here at Children’s Health Scotland  children and young people’s (CYP) health rights underpin all our work – services, activities and publications. In particular, our work is based on the 10 standards (or rights for CYP healthcare) of the European Association for Children in Hospital (EACH) charter which in turn is underpinned by the UNCRC articles. So it stands to reason that when the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 was coming into force we turned our thoughts to developing a resource to help practitioners better understand the health rights implications of the Act. Practitioners were perhaps familiar enough with GIRFEC and the Wellbeing Indicators (SHANARRI) through their practice, but were unsure of the status of the UNCRC within the Act and the way in which the Wellbeing Indicators actually translate into the UNCRC rights.

“I get the whole SHANARRI thing but how is that connected to the UNCRC articles and what does that mean for our practice?”

Interestingly, in a room full of healthcare practitioners, the majority were under the impression that the UNCRC  was already part of domestic law! We need to drill a little deeper to understand the relationship between the UNCRC in Part 1 and the rest of the Act and what that means for practitioners in daily practice. Only UNCR Article 24 (health rights for children) directly talks about health so it is useful to expand this concept within health and social care settings allied to the 8 wellbeing indicators. To help us in this we have used the 10 standards of the European Association for Children in Hospital (EACH) charter.

The Act places new duties on Scottish Ministers and public bodies to report on the steps they have taken to give further effect to the UNCRC requirements. (Part 1 of the Act). In addition, public bodies (including NHS boards and local authorities) must prepare three-yearly reports (due March 2020) on what they are doing to better secure, or give further effect to, the rights set out in the UNCRC. A list of which public bodies must prepare a report is set out in the 2014 Act.

Children’s Health Scotland has developed an online module, Children and Young People’s Health Rights to assist practitioners pursue a rights-based approach in line with UNCRC principles. The resource is aimed at all health and social care practitioners who come into contact with children and young people when providing healthcare services (whether in hospital, in the community or at home). This includes independent practitioners and third sector providers.

The resource aims to:

• promote greater understanding of the health rights and needs of CYP and families
• raise practitioners’ awareness of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 in relation to children and young people’s health and well-being
• assist practitioners pursue a rights-based approach in their work in line with UNCRC principles.

It is easy to access and navigate and covers the following subjects:

• The role of Children’s Health Scotland
• Policy context
• Children’s rights and wellbeing
• Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014
• Introduction to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC)
• Wellbeing Indicators
• European Association for Children in Hospital (EACH)

The use of innovative interactive activities, diagrams, scenarios and case studies all contribute to the appeal of this user-friendly resource. The course can be done in your own time, is FREE and takes approximately 40 minutes to complete. To access the course and register online visit: eNetLearn.

“This is an excellent piece of work which will prove invaluable to practitioners all across health and social care in furthering their responsibilities in pursuing a rights-based approach.” 

Blog Author: Anne Wilson Development Officer, Children’s Health Scotland 

Children’s Health Scotland is a finalist in the  VHS Annual Conference 2019  Poster Competition.  View the poster here.