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Looked after children and young people present with similar physical and mental health problems like their peers, but often to a greater degree. They often enter care with a worse level of health than their peers in part due to the impact of physical and emotional abuse and neglect.

The term looked after child means children and young people who are cared for by Government/local authority. In 2016/17 there were approximately 96,000 looked after children in the UK but the total number of looked after children in the UK has increased every year since 2010.¹ In England the majority of children (62%) were looked after due to abuse or neglect, whilst family dysfunction (15%) and acute family stress (9%) combined accounted for less than a quarter (March 2013).²

Aims of our study was to review healthcare needs as identified during initial health assessments of looked after children due to neglectful …