Grandmother, mother and two children sitting smiling on a sofa.

Core20PLUS5 Children & Young People in Greater Manchester

Core20PLUS5 Children and Young People in Greater Manchester

The approach to Core20PLUS5 Children and Young People in Greater Manchester is dedicated to reducing health inequalities and improving outcomes for children and young people. Explore the inspiring work taking place across the region, and access links to our plans, strategies, and other valuable resources.

Asthma

A drawing of a girl and a boy both using asthma inhalers with a spacers. The boy is younger, stood to the right of the girl and is holding a teddy bear.

As part of the Core20PLUS5 the ambition is to address the over reliance on reliever medications and decrease the number of asthma attacks.  

Asthma is the most common long-term medical condition in children in the UK, with around 1 in 11 children and young people living with asthma. Outcomes are worse for children and young people living in the most deprived areas. 

Improving care and support for children and young people living with asthma is a key priority for the Greater Manchester and Eastern Cheshire Children and Young People Strategic Clinical Network. 

In Greater Manchester an Asthma Friendly Schools Toolkit has been developed and endorsed including an accessible version. See the Asthma Friendly Schools' Policy and Asthma Friendly Schools' Guide 

Learn more about Asthma Friendly Schools and hear from children, teachers, clinicians and parents about the difference it has made to their care.    

The Digital Health Passport for Asthma pilot was rolled out across Greater Manchester and contributed to a national evaluation showing a return on investment of £9 to each £1 invested. A further iteration of the app is under development to support epilepsy self-management.  

A project focused on improving asthma management at home for children in the most deprived communities in Oldham has been completed - learning available in this Insight Report analysing asthma and respiratory illness of children and young people in Oldham.

Diabetes

The Core20PLUS5 focus on children and young people Diabetes is to: 

  • increase access to real time continuous glucose monitors and insulin pumps in the most deprived quintiles and from ethnic minority background.  

  • increase proportion of children and young people with type 2 diabetes receiving annual health checks. 

Working collaboratively paediatric and adult clinicians within the Strategic Clinical Networks have developed a GM diabetes transition strategy.  An audit against elements of the strategy has been undertaken and a report will follow to determine next steps in implementation.  

A successful two- year national pilot in Stockport for Diabetes Transition Young Adults has been extended for a further year. Early indicators show great benefit of having a dedicated transition multi-disciplinary team including Diabetes Specialist Nurse and youth worker to help engage with young adults and improve transition experience into adult diabetic support.  

For further information:  GM Diabetes Support Services and Education Leaflet 

Epilepsy 

The Core20PLUS5 ask in relation to Epilepsy is to increase access to epilepsy specialist nurses and ensure access in the first year of care for those with a learning disability or autism. 

  • A successful pilot implementing an epilepsy youth worker role has been in place with positive outcomes and impact as well as good engagement from young people.  This will be funded for a further year allowing more children and young people (and their families) to be supported. This is part of a national pilot to test healthcare youth worker roles. 

  • Colleagues working in mental health and in epilepsy care have developed Mental Health resources (with NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care Communications team) which can be incorporated into pathways and patient information sheets using QR codes to provide mental health support for all children and young people with epilepsy. 


Oral Health

The children and young people Core20PLUS5 ambition for oral health is to address the backlog for tooth extractions in hospitals for children under 10 years of age through improved access to dental services and supporting oral health improving programmes, so children don’t get tooth decay.  

In Greater Manchester, we have high levels of dental decay in children, which is preventable (through good oral hygiene and changes to dietary intake and behaviour). Having dental decay affects children (health, sleep, attendance/education and development, self-esteem and more) as well as having negative impacts on parents/carers.  Oral health colleagues are working to improve oral health by: 

  1. Improving Patient Access to dental initiatives to meet the needs of the whole population and focus on priority inclusion groups (e.g. facilitated access pathway for looked after children, working with Elective Care Team to develop surgical children's hubs for surgical general anaesthetic paediatric dentistry). 

  1. Workforce development and commissioning intentions to support delivery of paediatric dentistry including dental extractions in primary dental care rather than onward referral to specialist and specialised settings including into secondary services (e.g. Child Friendly Dental Practice Network and Healthy Living Dentistry). 

  1. Delivery, in partnership with local authorities, of NHS Greater Manchester Oral Health improvement Programme to provide toothbrush and fluoridated toothpaste packs for all 2–5-year-olds living in the most deprived communities (to support established Local Authority oral health improvement projects).   

  1. National priority supervised toothbrushing programme with resource allocation for children aged 3-5 years across the Integrated Care Service footprint. 

The Better Health Start for Life Top Tips for Teeth resources are designed to support dental professionals, health care professionals, early years professionals and those working with families and young children to encourage parents and carers to teach children good oral health, as well as make pregnant women aware of the additional dental support they can access. 

To find a dentist in Greater Manchester view: Find a dentist - NHS and for further information: How to take care of your baby or toddler's teeth. 

Mental Health

6 children from different races stood in a circle and looking down into the camera positioned on the ground facing up.

Improving access to mental health support and services for children and young people in Greater Manchester is a key priority within the Children and Young People Core20PLUS5 framework. NHS Greater Manchester, working collaboratively with NHS trusts, education settings through Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs), and the VCSE sector, has already exceeded national access targets. This success, underpinned by the Thrive Framework, reflects a shared commitment to improving access and delivering person-centred outcomes. Looking ahead to 2025/26, the focus will be on sustaining this strong performance while further expanding access, with particular emphasis on reaching children, young people, and families from disadvantaged groups.

Children and young people from more deprived areas often have greater need but still face more barriers. To start addressing this, we’ve focused on Mental Health Support Team expansion in schools with the highest need, increased flexibility through digital and phone-based support, and invested VCSE offers of support, as well as digital platforms e.g. Kooth and SilverCloud.  

Local areas are also taking action through targeted outreach, digital access campaigns, and trauma informed workforce training helping ensure services are more inclusive, accessible, and responsive to the needs of all children and young people.

For information advice and support resources see: Wellbeing resources and mental health support for children and young people.