Upholding rights to health, reducing risk to health, and improving health outcomes in collaboration : a 'Health Safety Check' service for infants, children, and young people in a health board area in Scotland

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McKeown, Andrea and Docherty, Laura and McMorland, Claire and Gibson, Jane (2026) Upholding rights to health, reducing risk to health, and improving health outcomes in collaboration : a 'Health Safety Check' service for infants, children, and young people in a health board area in Scotland. Scottish Journal of Residential Child Care, 25 (1). pp. 130-138. ISSN 1478-1840 (https://doi.org/10.17868/strath.00096119)

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Abstract

Care-experienced infants, children and young people often experience adversity, which contributes to poorer health outcomes at a population level. While research frequently focuses on an increased prevalence of clinical disorders, corporate parents have a statutory and moral responsibility to uphold children’s right to health and to reduce avoidable inequalities. Poor health is not an inevitable consequence of being care experienced; with the right collaborative systems, communication and advocacy, infants, children and young people can achieve excellent health into adulthood. The Health Safety Check is one such system — a small but critical ‘cog’ in the complex wider care structure of the health and social work system in Scotland, UK. It is designed to protect infants, children and young people during one of the highest-risk moments in their care journey: placement change, and particularly unplanned or emergency moves. This article details the governance-approved HSC process with the most recent real-world data (n=98 HSCs completed from October 2021 to February 2026) to demonstrate the impact, learning, and continued importance of the HSC pathway in upholding the right to health and improving individual and population health outcomes in the care-experienced population.

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