Providers Deliver: putting young people at the heart of care

NHS trusts are working in new and innovative ways to improve services for children and young people (CYP) at a time of extraordinary pressure.

A new report by NHS Providers shares some of the approaches they have taken to deliver improvements in a range of settings.

Providers Deliver: putting young people at the heart of care highlights the exceptional challenges CYP services face. Latest NHS performance figures show demand for mental health services has more than doubled since the pandemic, with 562,840 CYP waiting for services in March 2025. In the community sector, a record 314,430 CYP are waiting for community health services, of which 22% have waited for over 52 weeks.

The report highlights the impact increased demand and long waiting times can have on children and young people’s health and wellbeing. Given that childhood is a critical developmental period, timely intervention is vital. Achieving this will require urgent prioritisation at a national level to allow trusts to scale up the work they are doing in this area.

Through a series of case studies, our Providers Deliver report shows how trusts are responding to challenges facing services and working in new and innovative ways to overcome them.

The report highlights key lessons trust leaders have learned about improving services for children and young people:

• The power of involving young people - engaging children and young people in the design of services at an early stage is critical to delivering care that meets the needs of their local populations and improves timely access. The benefits of this approach are demonstrated in services run by Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust and Wirral Community Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust.
• The benefits of integration - trusts are working with local system partners to improve children and young people’s services by delivering more holistic, wrap-around care for children and families. This is featured in the report which highlights the work of London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust.
• The impact of digital innovation - Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust is harnessing digital, data and AI-driven interventions to empower children, young people and their families to manage their health.
  
  In a foreword for the report, the chair of NHS Providers, Professor Sir Terence Stephenson, draws on his experience as a clinician, researcher and leader in the field of paediatrics to emphasise the importance of supporting and developing CYP services:
  
  "For too long, children and young people have not been prioritised at a national level, with devastating long-term effects for individuals and their families, as well as to the NHS and the economy. 
  
  "The examples in this report show how committed trust leaders are to improving the outcomes and experiences of children and young people, but further national action is needed.
  
  "We are calling on the government to prioritise children and young people in all national policy making, and particularly the upcoming 10 Year Health Plan and Comprehensive Spending Review – because children matter."