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Showing results for tags 'Children and Young People'.
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Content ArticleThis report from the National Child Mortality Database (NCMD) covers the two-year period from 2019 to 2021, and is unique in two ways. It is the first national report to have investigated all unexpected deaths of infants and children—not just those that remained unexplained. It is also the first national review of the 'multi-agency investigation process' into unexpected deaths. The report found that, of all infant and child deaths occurring between April 2019 and March 2021 in England, 30% occurred suddenly and unexpectedly, and of these 64% had no immediately apparent cause. Other key findings relating to sudden and unexpected infant deaths (under 1 year) include: 70% were aged between 28 and 364 days, and 57% were male Infant death rates were higher in urban areas and the most deprived neighbourhoods For sudden and unexpected infant deaths that occurred during 2020 and had been fully reviewed, 52% were classified as unexplained (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) and 48% went on to be explained by other causes such as metabolic or cardiac conditions.
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News Article
Strep A home-test kits sell out after spate of UK deaths sparks panic buying
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Strep A home-testing kits have sold out online as parents rush to find ways to diagnose their children’s rashes and high temperatures. The panic-buying follows the deaths of at least 16 children from invasive strep A infections in the UK. As infections and deaths from strep A have risen over the past few weeks, parents have turned to tests that involve a long cotton swab that is lightly passed over the back of the throat. Solutions and a strip test are then used to display results. These tests are now being sold online for more than £100, while some retailers have reported selling out after demand soared over the past few days. Other suppliers have warned customers that they will not be able to get hold of a test until after Christmas. One online retailer told customers that they would not be able to get the products until mid-January. Others said they were awaiting deliveries but “there may be delays beyond our control”. Strep A tests are not sold in England through the NHS because the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) – which approves and advises on clinical care – has said their accuracy is uncertain and likely to be “highly variable”. Scotland has not approved them either, though in Wales people can buy them over the counter for £7.50. “We’re not advising using those [tests] for the time being,” Professor Kamila Hawthorne, chair of the Royal College of GPs, said on Friday. “It is a clinical diagnosis. It is not too difficult to make. So long as the parent watches their child and brings their child in, then we are more than happy to see them.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 11 December 2022 -
News Article
GPs say parents need clearer strep A advice
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
GP leaders have urged the government to put out clearer advice for parents about when to seek help over potential strep A infections. Prof Kamila Hawthorne, of the Royal College of GPs, said many surgeries were struggling with the extra demand on top of existing pressures. The government should consider "overspill" services for surgeries unable to cope, she said. Since September, 15 UK children have died after invasive strep A infections. This includes the death of one child in Wales, and one in Northern Ireland. There have been no deaths confirmed in Scotland. The UK Health Security Agency figures (UKHSA) show there have also been 47 deaths from strep A in adults in England. Most strep A infections are mild, but more severe invasive cases - while still rare - are rising. Prof Hawthorne, said: "We do not want to discourage patients who are worried about their children to seek medical attention, particularly given the current circumstances. "But we do want to see good public health messaging across the UK, making it clear to parents when they should seek help and the different care options available to them - as well as when they don't need to seek medical attention." Read full story Source: BBC News, 8 December 2022 -
News Article
Scarlet fever cases rise tenfold as parents struggle to find Strep A antibiotics
Patient-Safety-Learning posted a news article in News
Scarlet fever cases have surged by tenfold in a year, official data shows, as pharmacists grapple with a shortage of antibiotics during a Strep A outbreak. Strep A bacteria usually only causes mild illness, including scarlet fever and strep throat, which is treated with antibiotics. But in rare cases, it can progress into a potentially life-threatening disease if it gets into the bloodstream. Infections are higher than normal for this time of year, and at least nine children have died after contracting the bacteria in recent weeks. Pharmacists say they are struggling to get their hands on antibiotics to treat Strep A infections – despite the government insisting there is no shortage. “We are worried because we are having to turn patients away,” said Dr Leyla Hannbeck, the head of the Association of Multiple Pharmacies (AIMP). Read more Source: The Independent, 8 December 2022 -
News ArticleAntibiotics could be given to children at schools affected by Strep A to stop the spread of the infection, schools minister Nick Gibb has said. Mr Gibb told Sky News that the UK Health and Security Agency (UKHSA) is "working closely with the schools involved and giving very specific advice to those schools which may involve the use of penicillin". He added that health officials will "have more to say about that". "They're providing more general advice to parents, which is to look out for the symptoms - so, sore throat, fever, high temperature and also a red or raised rash on the skin are symptoms of this invasive Strep A outbreak." His comments came after the ninth death of a child from the infection. Read full story Source: Sky News, 6 December 2022
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News Article
‘Rubbish’ government Strep A comms blamed for flooding services
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
‘Rubbish’ communications on Group A Strep from government agencies made A&Es more ‘risky’ over the weekend, after services were flooded with the ‘worried well’, several senior provider sources have told HSJ. On Friday the UK Health Security Agency, successor to Public Health England, issued a warning on a higher than usual number of cases after the deaths of five children under 10 in a week. Several senior sources in hospital, 111/ambulance, urgent care and primary care providers, told HSJ they were not warned UKHSA were making an announcement that would also see services flooded by the worried well. NHS England’s clinical lead for integrated urgent care issued a letter, seen by HSJ, saying a “considerable increase” in 111 demand over the weekend was “in part due to Group A Strep concerns”. Sources in the sector said the increase in demand was “heavily” Strep-related. One senior accident and emergency leader told HSJ that when parents could not get through on 111 they brought their children to emergency departments. “The media messaging has been handled terribly”, they added. They added: “Huge numbers of ‘worried well’ makes the A&E a much more dangerous place. We are just not equipped to deal with the volume of patients. [There is a] much greater chance we would miss one seriously unwell child when we are wading through a six-hour queue of viral, but otherwise well, kids.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 6 December 2022 -
News Article
Six children have died with Strep A bacterial infection
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
There have been five recorded deaths within seven days of an invasive Strep A diagnosis in children under 10 in England this season, the UK Health Security Agency has said. A child under the age of 10 has also died in Wales after contracting the infection. Group A strep bacteria can cause many infections, ranging from minor illnesses to deadly diseases, but serious complications and deaths are rare. According to UKHSA data, there were 2.3 cases of invasive disease per 100,000 children aged one to four this year in England, compared with an average of 0.5 in the pre-pandemic seasons (2017 to 2019). There have also been 1.1 cases per 100,000 children aged five to nine, compared with the pre-pandemic average of 0.3 (2017 to 2019). The UKHSA said investigations are under way following reports of an increase in lower respiratory tract Group A Strep infections in children over the past few weeks, which have caused severe illness. It added that there is no evidence to suggest a new strain of Strep A is circulating, and the increase is most likely related to high amounts of circulating bacteria and social mixing. Read full story Source: Sky News, 3 December 2022 -
News Article
Parents urged to get children flu vaccine as infections rise
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Parents of children under five are being urged to get them a flu vaccine after a 70% jump in hospitalisations. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said an 11% fall in the uptake of the vaccine among two and three-year-olds came as flu circulated at higher levels than in previous years. Anjali and Ben Wildblood from Bristol saw their two-year-old son Rafa become "very sick" with flu just days before he was due to have the vaccine. The pair, who are both NHS consultants, said their concerns prompted them to take him to A&E where he was treated and sent home. "But his condition got worse again, with a soaring temperature and exhaustion - he had no strength whatsoever and what was so extremely worrying was that he barely had the strength to breathe - every parent's worst nightmare," they said. After returning to hospital, Rafa was admitted to a paediatric intensive care unit where he was put under general anaesthetic and intubated. Covid restrictions have meant most young children have never encountered flu and have no natural immunity to the virus, the UKHSA said. This increased risk has coincided with the uptake of the flu vaccine among two-year-olds standing at 31% and 33% among three-year-olds. All children under five can get vaccinated at their GP surgery. Read full story Source: BBC News, 30 November 2022 -
News Article
NHS England waiting times for gender dysphoria patients unlawful, court hears
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
NHS England has acted unlawfully by making thousands of patients with gender dysphoria wait “extreme” periods of time for treatment, the high court has heard. Transgender claimants, who have suffered distress as a result of delays, want the court to declare that NHSE broke the law by failing to meet a target for 92% of patients to commence treatment within 18 weeks. NHSE figures show there are 26,234 adults waiting for a first appointment with an adult gender dysphoria clinic, of whom 23,561 have been waiting more than 18 weeks. The number of children on the waiting list is approximately 7,600, of whom about 6,100 have been waiting more than 18 weeks. In a witness statement, one of the claimants, Eva Echo, said she received a referral in October 2017 but had still not been given a first appointment, leaving her in “painful indefinite limbo”. A co-claimant, Alexander Harvey, who has been waiting for a first appointment since 2019, said the delay “means that I have to continue to live in a body which I don’t feel is mine and which does not reflect who I am”. He said he had twice tried to kill himself. In written submissions for Tuesday’s hearing, David Lock KC, representing the claimants, said delays to puberty-blocking treatment – the current waiting time for children to access services is more than two years – could cause “intense anxiety and distress” to adolescents as a result of them experiencing “permanent and irreversible bodily changes”. While NHSE accepts it has not met the 92% target across the cohort of patients for whom its health services are commissioned, it claims a breach does not give rise to enforceable individual rights. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 29 November 2022 -
Content ArticleDeveloped in 2020, this Picker survey aims to understand the experiences of cancer and tumour care among children and their parents/carers. The results will help improve children’s cancer services across England. The survey, conducted by the charity Picker on behalf of NHS England, included children, young people, and their parents – with separate questions designed to be appropriate to different age groups. Children and young people were included in the survey if they had a confirmed cancer or tumour diagnosis, received inpatient or day case care from an NHS Principal Treatment Centre (PTC) in 2021, and were under 16 years of age at the time of their discharge.
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EventuntilNHS England (NHSE) and Picker are pleased to announce a National Insight Webinar designed to unpick the results of the 2021 Under 16 Cancer Patient Experience Survey (U16 CPES). The webinar is dedicated to helping NHS teams, providers, charities, commissioners, and the wider public to better understand their results, identify areas for action, and place person centred care at the heart of operations. Register
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Content ArticleDeaths from Covid-19 are rare in children and young people, and the high rates of asymptomatic and mild infections complicate assessment of cause of death in this group. This study assessed the cause of death in all children and young people with a positive Covid-19 test since the start of the pandemic in England. The authors concluded that:Covid-19 deaths remain extremely rare in CYP, with most fatalities occurring within 30 days of infection and in children with specific underlying conditions.Covid-19 was responsible for 1.2% of all deaths in <20 year-olds in this period.
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News Article
Measles now an 'imminent' global threat due to pandemic, say WHO and CDC
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
There is now an "imminent threat" of measles spreading in every region of the world, the World Health Organisation and the US public health agency has said. In a joint report, the health organisations said there had been a fall in vaccines against measles and less surveillance of the disease during the COVID pandemic. Measles is one of the most contagious human viruses but is almost entirely preventable through vaccination, though it requires 95% vaccine coverage to prevent outbreaks. A record high of nearly 40 million children missed a dose last year because of hurdles created by the pandemic, according to the report by the WHO and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This has left millions of children susceptible to the disease. "We are at a crossroads," Patrick O'Connor, the WHO's measles lead, said. "It is going to be a very challenging 12-24 months trying to mitigate this." Read full story Source: Sky News, 24 November 2022 -
Content ArticleCore20PLUS5 is NHS England's approach to reducing health inequalities at both national and system level. The approach defines a target population cohort and identifies five focus clinical areas that require accelerated improvement. This infographic outlines the specific Core20PLUS5 approach to reducing health inequalities for children and young people.
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Content ArticleThe number of children and young people admitted to children’s wards with an eating disorder has increased significantly since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. In the most extreme cases, those with severe malnutrition may need to be fed via a nasogastric tube without their consent. Children’s nurses working on hospital wards may therefore care for children and young people who need to receive nasogastric tube feeding under physical restraint. This article offers an overview of eating disorders and their detrimental effects as well as practical advice for children’s nurses, supporting them to provide safe, compassionate and person-centred care to their patients.
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News Article
Harrowing ‘systemic abuse’ at children’s hospitals revealed
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Children say they were “treated like animals” and left traumatised as part of a decade of “systemic abuse” by a group of mental health hospitals, an investigation by The Independent and Sky News has found. The Department of Health and Social Care has now launched a probe into the allegations of 22 young women who were patients in units run by The Huntercombe Group, which has run at least six children’s mental health hospitals, between 2012 and this year. They say they suffered treatment including the use of “painful” restraints and being held down for hours by male nurses, being stopped from going outside for months and living in wards with blood-stained walls. They also allege they were given so much medication they had become “zombies” and were force-fed. Through witness testimony, documents obtained by Freedom of Information request and leaked reports, the investigation has uncovered: The CQC has received more than 700 whistleblowing and safeguarding reports, including “incidents of concern” and several “sexual safety” concerns. NHS England was notified of 195 safeguarding reports between 2020 and 2021. A 2018 internal report at Meadow Lodge hospital in Newton Abbot (now closed) found staff members using sexually inappropriate language in front of patients. 160 reports investigated by Staffordshire police about Huntercombe Staffordshire between 2015 and 2022. Between March 2021 and 2022, the CQC gave permission for 29 patients to be admitted to Maidenhead hospital after it was placed in special measures. Read full story Source: The Independent, 17 November 2022 -
News Article
FDA warns of rise in reports of child poisonings linked to cough medicine
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Poison control centres in the USA have seen an increase in reports of children ingesting a type of prescription cough medicine, a study published by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)found. From 2010 through 2018, reports of paediatric poisonings involving the drug, benzonatate, increased each year, the study found. Benzonatate, sold under the brand name Tessalon, is prescribed to treat coughs caused by colds or the flu. It is not approved for children younger than 10 years old. The findings, published in the journal Pediatrics, were based on more than 4,600 cases reported to poison control centres. The reports included children who were unintentionally exposed to the drug, as well as children who abused or misused it intentionally. The proportion of cases with serious adverse effects was low. However, accidental or inappropriate use of benzonatate, which comes in gel capsules, can lead to serious health problems in children, including convulsions, cardiac arrest and death. The findings should galvanise doctors to be more careful when they prescribe these kinds of medications, said study author Dr. Ivone Kim, a pediatrician and senior medical officer at the FDA. Cough medications "should be treated like any other medication that can have serious side effects," Ameenuddin said, "which means not giving it to children without specific medical direction." Read full story Source: NBC News, 15 November 2022 -
News Article
Children at similar risk for Long Covid as adults, study suggests
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A large study today from Germany shows that children and adolescents are at the same relative risk of experiencing COVID-19 symptoms 90 days or more after acute infection as adults are, according to findings in PLOS Medicine. Though kids and adolescents have far fewer deaths or severe outcomes from COVID-19 infections compared to adults, little is known about Long or post-Covid symptoms in this age-group, or symptoms that persist for more than 12 weeks after acute infection. Researchers from the Technical University of Dresden, Germany, used data from half of the German population to determine that kids and adults have the same relative risk of experiencing post-Covid symptoms at 90 days following infection. Martin Roessler, the lead author of the study, said there were significant symptom overlap among kids and adults who experienced symptoms 90 days or more after acute infection. "We found 5 identical outcomes among the 10 outcomes with the highest relative risk among children/adolescents and adults. These symptoms are cough, fever, headache, malaise/fatigue/exhaustion, throat or chest pain," he told CIDRAP News. Other symptoms were more commonly seen in adults, but not kids. Those included a loss of taste or smell, fever, and shortness of breath. Daniel Blatt, MD, a pediatric infectious disease physician at the post-COVID clinic at Norton Children's Hospital in Louisville, Kentucky, said he was not surprised by the study's findings. "It's unclear if Long Covid is the same in children and adults, in terms of pathophysiology, but it's just as real," he said. Blatt, who was not involved in the study, said his clinic also collects data on children and Long Covid. He said the most common symptoms reported in his patients are fatigue, anxiety, and "brain fog," followed by some shortness of breath or muscle pain. "The good news is kids tend to get better, regardless of what intervention is needed," Blatt said. As in adult Long Covid, there's no one-size-fits-all approach for pediatric Long Covid patients. "Some need reassurance; some need a graduated exercise program." Read full story Source: CIDRAP, 10 November 2022 -
Content ArticleLong-term health sequelae of COVID-19 are a major public health concern. However, evidence on Long Covid is still limited, particularly for children and adolescents. Using comprehensive healthcare data on approximately 46% of the German population, Roesller et al. investigated post-COVID-19-associated morbidity in children/adolescents and adults.
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News Article
Children to be screened for diabetes risk in UK early detection trial
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Scientists are launching a trial screening programme for type 1 diabetes in the UK to detect the disease earlier and reduce the risk of life-changing complications. About 20,000 children aged between 3 and 13 are being invited to take part in the Early Surveillance for Autoimmune Diabetes (Elsa) study, with recruitment opening on Monday. The aim is to assess children’s risk of developing type 1 diabetes at the earliest stage possible to ensure a quick and safe diagnosis, and reduce the number being diagnosed when they are already seriously ill. Parth Narendran, a professor of diabetes medicine at the University of Birmingham, said: “As general population screening programmes for type 1 diabetes emerge around the world, we need to explore how best to screen children here in the UK.” Dr Elizabeth Robertson, the director of research at Diabetes UK, which is co-funding the study with the not-for-profit organisation JDRF, said: “Identifying children at high risk of type 1 diabetes could put them and their families on the front foot, helping ensure a safe and soft landing into an eventual diagnosis, avoiding DKA and reducing the risk of life-altering complications.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 14 November 2022 -
News Article
Dr Heather Steen to be removed from medical register
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A senior doctor is to be removed from the medical register after she was found to have attempted to cover-up the circumstances of a young girl's death. Paediatrics consultant Dr Heather Steen was found to be unfit to practise after an investigation into the death of nine-year-old Claire Roberts in 1996. A medical tribunal examining the doctor's case ruled that the majority of allegations against her were true. Claire's mother said it was "just the start of getting full justice". "I am angry at Dr Steen for putting us through 26 years of mental torment," said Jennifer Roberts. At the time of Claire's death, her parents were told she had a viral infection that had spread from her stomach to her brain. But in 2018 a public inquiry determined that she had died from an overdose of fluids and medication caused by negligent care at the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children. The inquiry also concluded there had been "cover up" and the girl's death had not been referred to the coroner immediately to "avoid scrutiny". The case was then put to the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS), which rules on doctors' fitness to practise. When the case reached the tribunal stage Dr Steen twice applied to be voluntarily removed from the medical register and was twice refused. Had that been successful the tribunal would have been halted as she would no longer have been a doctor. However the tribunal continued and examined allegations that between October 1996 and May 2006 Dr Steen "knowingly and dishonestly carried out several actions to conceal the true circumstances" of Claire. Read full story Source: BBC News, 11 November 2022 -
Content ArticleIn this Guardian article, parents reveal their heart-wrenching struggles to access NHS services, which have sometimes been too late to help their children.
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News Article
1 in 3 infected with HIV in blood scandal was a child
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Almost one out of every three people infected with HIV through contaminated NHS blood products in the 1970s and 80s was a child, research has found. About 380 children with haemophilia and other blood disorders are now thought to have contracted the virus. The new estimate was produced by the public inquiry into the disaster, after a BBC News report into the scandal. In August, the government agreed to pay survivors and the partners of those who died compensation. The first interim payments of £100,000 per person were made last month. The initial agreement does not cover bereaved parents or the children of those who have died. A wider announcement on compensation is expected when the inquiry concludes, next year. Read full story Source: BBC News, 9 November 2022 -
News Article
NHS Borders monitors high levels of scarlet fever
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The health board in the Scottish Borders has said it is monitoring "unseasonably high" numbers of scarlet fever cases in the region. Parents have been asked to be aware of the symptoms so that early treatment with antibiotics can be given. Scarlet fever is a bacterial illness that mainly affects children under 10 but people of any age can get it. NHS Borders said it would usually clear up after about a week but anyone who thinks they or a child may have it has been asked to contact a GP for a proper diagnosis and appropriate treatment. "Due to the contagious nature of scarlet fever, if you or your child has the illness, please stay at home for at least 24 hours after starting treatment with antibiotics," it added. Read full story Source: BBC News, 7 November 2022 -
Content ArticleThis Australian study in Health Expectations aimed to evaluate the implementation of 'Calling for Help'(C4H), an intervention for parents to escalate care if they are concerned about their child's clinical condition. The study used a convenience sample of 75 parents from inpatient areas during the audit, and the authors held interviews with ten parents who had expressed concern about their child's clinical condition and five focus groups with 35 ward nurses. The authors found that there was an improvement in the level of parent awareness of C4H, which was viewed positively by both parents and nurses. To achieve a high level of parent awareness in a sustainable way, a multifaceted approach is required and further strategies will be required for parents to feel confident enough to use C4H and to address communication barriers.
