CHILD poverty is at “an unbearable level” a paediatrician said today, on the first anniversary of the launch of a task force to tackle the problem.

A snapshot survey of medical staff working on the front line suggested the number of child patients suffering poverty-related ill health has risen in the past two years.

The impact of such poverty has also increased in severity, with issues including overcrowded or damp housing playing a part, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) poll found.

A majority of front-facing hospital staff said they had struggled to discharge a child for poverty-related reasons in the past six months.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer pledged to “leave no stone unturned to give every child the very best start at life” when the ministerial taskforce was announced on July 17 last year to start work on a child poverty strategy.

The strategy had been due for publication in spring, but was delayed until autumn to align with the Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s Budget.

Meanwhile, the Labour government has faced sustained pressure to scrap the two-child benefit limit – which restricts child tax credit and universal credit to the first two children in most households.

RCPCH officer for health improvement Dr Helen Stewart said: “Child poverty in the UK is at an unbearable level and as a paediatrician, I am deeply concerned by the condition of children arriving at front-line health services.

“This is a crisis that demands decisive action from government.”

The government said it is investing £500 million in children’s development and taking preventative action as part of its 10-Year Health Plan.