Payne Heather, Pithouse Andrew
Department of Child Health, College of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK.
Health Soc Care Community. 2006 Nov;14(6):563-71. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2524.2006.00644.x.
The present paper reports on key results from a government-funded survey of all National Health Service trusts, local health boards and community health councils in Wales, which was conducted in 2004-2005 to identify the characteristics of complaints involving children, and the use of professional advocacy services in these complaints and their role in supporting children in relation to health service matters more generally. Findings from the survey are presented which reveal the marginal take-up of professional advocacy services in health complaints, and the slender resource in professional advocacy for children commissioned by a small number of health bodies. Advocacy support for users of health services typically focuses upon adult-related issues. The needs of children, particularly those who may have special requirements because of disability, being looked after, or having language or cultural needs are not well met according to the present survey. This raises the question of whether recent policy and guidance on advocacy (particularly for children and vulnerable groups) is seen by health bodies as warranting decisive action and dedicated investment, or whether rhetoric and modest change is the more likely outcome in the face of other pressing demands on health budgets.
本文报告了一项由政府资助的针对威尔士所有国民医疗服务信托机构、地方卫生委员会和社区卫生委员会的调查的关键结果。该调查于2004年至2005年进行，旨在确定涉及儿童投诉的特征，以及这些投诉中专业维权服务的使用情况及其在更广泛的医疗服务事务中支持儿童的作用。文中呈现了调查结果，结果显示在健康投诉中专业维权服务的利用率很低，且由少数卫生机构委托的针对儿童的专业维权资源匮乏。对医疗服务使用者的维权支持通常集中在与成人相关的问题上。根据本次调查，儿童的需求，尤其是那些因残疾、被照料、有语言或文化需求而可能有特殊要求的儿童的需求，没有得到很好的满足。这就引发了一个问题：卫生机构是否认为近期关于维权（特别是针对儿童和弱势群体）的政策和指导需要采取果断行动和进行专门投资，还是在面对医疗预算的其他紧迫需求时，更可能出现的结果是言辞上的表态和适度的改变。
