How NHS strikes put thousands of sick children in peril

Hundreds of children’s appointments – including for lifesaving operations and cancer treatments – have been cancelled on each day that NHS strikes took place over the last year, as hundreds of thousands of youngsters languish on the waiting list for treatment, The Independent can reveal.

More than 20,000 paediatric treatments and surgeries were shelved because of the walkouts, while the families of 400 children were told that their lifesaving operations had been cancelled.

With junior doctors due to stage the longest strike in NHS history this week – for six days, starting on Wednesday – the problem is set to get worse.

Dr Camilla Kingdon, president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, warned that long waits for children can be particularly damaging, and can have a lifelong impact as treatment is often time-critical.

She said that children are seldom prioritised in national policy-making, and urged the government to put children’s needs “back on the agenda”.

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Source: The Independent, 2 January 2024