Helen Mehaffeyexplains how the NHS reforms have been used to create an integrated approach to child health care which has succeeded in meeting families’ needs

The integration of child health services in the North Hampshire area began in 1990 when the Basingstoke and North Hants Health Authority was implementing the NHS reforms leading to the creation of trusts. Before then, children’s care had been fragmented across four separate units of management and the district headquarters, all of which were delivering different aspects of care in the community and acute settings.