Children’s access to healthcare in England is a “postcode lottery,” a news children’s commissioner report warns.1The report analysed more than 150 different metrics, including health, education, social care, safety, and family life. It found that no area was consistently performing well across the full range of metrics.It added that deprivation alone could not account for all the differences in children’s access to services, as some poorer areas scored highly in the analysis when compared with relatively wealthier ones.Rachel de Souza, children’s commissioner for England, concluded that local services for children were in a “state of emergency” and that children were being “systemically failed across the country.”On children’s health, the report examined 17 areas, including child mortality rate, child and adolescent vaccine coverage, access to mental health support, and hospital admissions for mental health and physical injuries. It also surveyed children’s responses to statements such as “You can access good healthcare…
