Save the Children UK: Addressing the Child Health Crisis at Home

Save the Children UK is known by most as a humanitarian child’s rights organisation, responding to global emergencies. Since 2019 our focus on home soil has been the 1 in 3 children living in poverty; campaigning with families to stop poverty from holding children back.  We believe that ending child poverty isn’t just desirable, it’s possible.

In July, Save the Children UK partnered with BBC’s Panorama to bring the impact of the UK’s entrenched health inequalities into people’s homes through the documentary “Britain’s Child Health Crisis.”

The episode sees reporter Rahil Sheikh return to his hometown of Sheffield to uncover the harsh realities faced by families affected by inequalities and the professionals working for change. Central to the film is Sheffield's Early Learning Community, where Save the Children plays a pivotal role as a “systems steward”, bringing capacity, to enhance ability of local families and professionals to work together to address the specific needs of children in the area.

Sheffield's Early Learning Community is part of a UK-wide program of Children’s Communities (North Tyneside and Tameside), Early Learning Communities (Feltham, Margate, Belfast and Bettws) and Early Learning Partnerships (Longsight, Tower Hamlets and Glasgow).

In each place, we listen to what’s happening in communities, partner with families and local organisations, gather evidence on what is and isn’t working, and influence decision-makers by presenting our findings. We campaign to secure sustainable change not on behalf of, but alongside children and families.

Much of the film is focused on the Meadows Nursery, at the heart of Sheffield’s Early Learning Community, a happy and caring nursery located in Shirecliffe, one of the city’s most deprived areas. The nursery is part of Sheffield Hallam University’s Early Years Research Centre and provides high quality childcare. Support from Save the Children funds additional childcare places and enables parents and carers to co-design accessible whole family support, such as supervised toothbrushing, a breakfast club for parents promoting physical and mental health, and a stay and play session for children facing long waits for SEND assessments and specialist input. As Professor Sir Michael Marmot observed during his visit, improving parental outcomes goes hand-in-hand with supporting children. “We think of this as a child development centre but it's also an adult development centre”. 

With only half an hour to investigate the UK’s embedded health inequalities, the film’s power is in the honest and frank descriptions of the consequences of policies that have worsened living conditions and access to healthcare. Mothers and grandmothers explain the challenges they face as they try to keep their children healthy without enough money to afford basic necessities. The grim reality of poor oral health is illustrated by the baby teeth of a three-year-old boy, 18 of them removed due to severe decay; a mother describes frustrating attempts to register her son with an NHS dentist, only to be told it would take two years. While waiting, his dental problems worsened, leading to painful infections, sleepless nights and missed school.

The documentary goes on to explore the systemic factors that compound children’s suffering, such as an unfair and a punitive social security system and austerity measures that diminished services designed to improve children’s health, and while limiting the NHS's capacity to meet growing demands.

The new government has acknowledged and pledged to address child poverty and its impact on childhood and beyond, but as the film speculates, financial constraints and competing priorities will make it difficult to implement all necessary measures. Poverty and inequality must be tackled at a local level too.

The parents and carers we work with agree that national change is crucial, but they also advocate for strengthening grassroots, community-based support, where trusted relationships can develop and communities actively participate in creating a healthier, more equitable future for all children. 

This is where we at the Save the Children UK leverage our platform and position, by providing opportunities for children and their families to share their ideas and stories, in their own words, in their own way, whether through a collaboration with Panorama, creative arts, speaking directly to MPs, advertising or campaigns.  We believe there is no route to sustainable change without the involvement of people who experience the realities of poverty and inequality every day.

Watch BBC Panorama's Britain’s Child Health Crisis now (available for the next 11 months from 15 July 2024) on https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00215yf

Sign up here for Save the Children UK’s Learning Network webinar on 25th September, 12-1:15pm for a panel discussion which reunites BBC reporter Rahil Sheikh with local parents featured in the documentary to discuss the impact of working together to address child poverty as a root cause of health inequality. It will also explore how policy makers can collaborate with communities to create a healthier, more equitable future for all children.