The Chief Medical Officer, Professor Dame Sally Davies, published her annual report today.

Actually, it’s two reports. The first is the usual state of the nation summary of the population’s coughs and splutters. The second, uniquely this year, looks in depth at the worrying lack of attention we have paid to young people’s health. It’s entitled ‘Children Deserve Better.’

You have probably caught some of the news reports about this already. These have focused on things like the re-emergence of ricketts, and the high mortality rate among children in our country when compared to places such as Sweden.

One of the benefits of the nation’s doctor also holding the role of being the nation’s chief clinical researcher (Director of R&D at the Department of Health) is that in her deed and word, the bedside is never too far from the bench, and vice versa. We must make the most of it while it lasts.

So, in the report on children and young people’s health I am delighted to see that Dame Sally has followed up on her comments and highly vocal commitment at the recent Generation R event in September (see previous blogs) by including the following recommendation:

Recommendation 23:
The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Clinical Research Network, including the NIHR Medicines for Children Network, should work with children and young people to input to the design of clinical studies in order to facilitate increased participation of children and young people in drug and other trials.

That’s a clear steer to me and others across NIHR and elsewhere to make this happen. I know personally how much Dame Sally is interested in this area, simply by her frequent nudges to me to make sure young people are part of NIHR’s strategy and plans for public involvement and their wider access to research.

Speaking as a pseudo policy-maker the key now is not for us to receive a myriad questions by email but solutions and ideas on how we can achieve this on a larger scale than we have already managed.

For we start from a good base in the UK when it comes to involving young people in research. The model we have adopted in the Medicines for Children Research Network is feted and being copied by many abroad (Canada for one). But there is much more we can and should be doing.

Children deserve better.