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Showing results for tags 'Children and Young People'.
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News Article
Sudden unexplained death in childhood: Charity hails new NHS efforts
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
NHS England has "never shown so much support" to stop children dying without explanation, a charity which works to prevent unexplained deaths has said. Sudden unexplained death in childhood (SUDC) is a rare category of death in which the cause remains unknown even after thorough investigation. Currently there is very little awareness or research into its causes. NHS England has said it will now begin a series of measures to change this, a move welcomed by the charity SUDC UK, including: Piloting systems to improve education of health professionals and gather data to help identify modifiable factors which will go on to establish processes to help manage the deterioration of children. Improve information given to families and professionals about SUDC. Separately, data from every child whose death has been put down as SUDC since 2019 will being reviewed by the National Child Mortality Database. Dr Nikki Speed, from the charity SUDC UK, described the plans as revolutionary. "This is such positive historic progress, a landmark moment. Never has the NHS shown such support to stop sudden unexplained death in childhood," she said. "Never has there been such a clear statement to review public information on SUDC, optimise data collection and learn how we could prevent future tragedies. "We finally have confidence that things will progress in our fight to stop SUDC." Read full story Source: BBC News, 15 October 2022 -
Content ArticleThe journalist Merope Mills voices her anger at her daughter Martha's preventable death in this Woman's Hour programme.
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News ArticleThe mother of a bullied 12-year-old girl has said her daughter struggled to get mental health support on the NHS in the months before she killed herself, and accused her school of failing to deal with inappropriate messages circulating among pupils. The mother of Charley-Ann Patterson, Jamie, told a hearing that despite being seen by three medical professionals, Charley-Ann had been unable to get mental health support in the months before her death. In a statement read at an inquest at Northumberland coroner’s court on 12 October, Jamie said her daughter had changed halfway through her first year of secondary school, when she was sent “inappropriate” and “shocking” messages by other pupils. The inquest heard that Jamie first took her daughter to a GP over self-harm concerns in June 2019, but she said she “did not believe that the GP took Charley-Ann’s self-harm seriously, potentially due to her age”. She took Charley-Ann to A&E in May 2020 after a second episode of self-harm, where she was referred to a psychiatric team and given a telephone appointment in which she was told Charley-Ann would be referred to child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS), but that “it was likely that she would not be seen for three years”. In an appointment with a nurse she was told that she would be referred to the Northumberland mental health hub for low mood and anxiety, but later learned “that this referral was never made”. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 12 October 2022
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Content Article
Andrew Stroud's daughter Bia has type 1 diabetes, and in this blog, Andrew talks about his family's experiences supporting Bia to manage her diabetes. He describes the huge value of technology in improving diabetes management and reducing the mental burden of the condition on people with diabetes and their parents and carers. However, like all technology, medical devices for diabetes can fail, and Andrew highlights the need to be prepared for this situation to ensure the person with diabetes is safe while they cannot use the devices they rely on every day. -
News Article
Children with Down Syndrome at up to 10-fold higher risk of diabetes
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
New research led by Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) and King's College London (KCL) has shown that children with Down Syndrome (DS) are up to 10 times more likely to be diagnosed with diabetes. Although elevated rates of both type 1 diabetes and obesity in DS were already recognised, this is the first time that the incidence of these comorbidities has been mapped across the life span, in one of the biggest DS cohorts in the world. The authors concluded: "Our study shows that patients with DS are at significantly increased risk of diabetes at a younger age than the general population, with more than four times the risk in children and young adults and more than double the risk in patients aged 25–44 years." They added: "The underlying mechanisms for this increased susceptibility for diabetes in DS still need further investigation. A combination of factors, including genetic susceptibility, predisposition to auto- immunity, mitochondrial dysfunction, increased oxidative stress, and cellular dysfunction, are thought to contribute to this risk." Corresponding author Andre Strydom, professor in intellectual disabilities at KCL, said: "This is the largest study ever conducted in Down Syndrome patients to show that they have unique needs with regards to diabetes and obesity, and that screening and intervention – including a healthy diet and physical activity – at younger ages is required compared with the general population. "The results will help to inform the work of NHSE's LeDeR programme to reduce inequalities and premature mortality in people with Down Syndrome and learning disabilities." Read full story Source: Medscape UK, 5 October 2022 -
Content ArticleOn 24 October 2019 coroner Lydia Brown commenced an investigation into the death of Asher William Robert Sinclair, age 3. The investigation concluded at the end of the inquest on 24 January 2022. The conclusion of the inquest was: His medical cause of death was: 1a Hypoxic ischaemic brain injury 1b out of hospital cardiac arrest 1c displaced tracheal tube (trachael tube dependant) II Neonatal enterviral myocarditis and encephalitis (trachael ventilator dependant and cardiac pacemaker). Asher died on 8th October 2019 in Great Ormond Street hospital when his life support mechanisms were withdrawn.
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News Article
We must challenge 'doctor knows best' attitude, bereaved mother says
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Merope Mills, an editor at the Guardian, has questioned doctors' attitudes after her 13-year-old daughter Martha's preventable death in hospital. Martha had sustained a rare pancreatic trauma after falling off a bike on a family holiday, and spent weeks in a specialist unit where she developed sepsis. An inquest concluded that her death was preventable, and the hospital apologised. Ms Mills said her daughter would be alive today if doctors had not kept information from the parents about her condition, because they would have demanded a second opinion. She added that doctors' attitudes "reeked of misogyny", citing a moment when her "anxiety" was used as an argument to not send critical care to Martha. In a statement, Prof Clive Kay, chief executive of King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust said he was "deeply sorry that we failed Martha when she needed us most". "Our focus now is on ensuring the specific learnings from her case are used to improve the care our teams provide - and that is what we are committed to doing." Watch video Source: BBC News, 6 October 2022 Further reading on the hub ‘We had such trust, we feel such fools’: how shocking hospital mistakes led to our daughter’s death (The Guardian) “Are you questioning my clinical judgement?” Suppressing parents’ concerns is a serious patient safety risk -
News Article
WHO alert over India-made cough syrups after deaths in The Gambia
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A global alert has been issued over four cough syrups after the World Health Organization (WHO) warned they could be linked to the deaths of 66 children in The Gambia. The syrups have been "potentially linked with acute kidney injuries and 66 deaths among children", it said. The products were manufactured by an Indian company, Maiden Pharmaceuticals, which had failed to provide guarantees about their safety, the WHO added. The WHO identified the medicines as Promethazine Oral Solution, Kofexmalin Baby Cough Syrup, Makoff Baby Cough Syrup and Magrip N Cold Syrup. The four products had been identified in The Gambia, but "may have been distributed, through informal markets, to other countries or regions", the WHO added, in the alert published on its website. It warned that their use may result in serious injury or death, especially among children. Read full story Source: BBC News, 6 October 2022 -
News Article
How 175 British children were infected with HIV
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
At least 175 children with the blood disorder haemophilia were infected with HIV in the 1980s, according to documents from the national archives seen by BBC News. Some of the families affected are giving evidence at a public inquiry into what has been called the worst treatment disaster in the history of the NHS. It was almost 36 years ago - in late October 1986 - but Linda will never forget the day she was told her son had been infected. She had been called into a consulting room in Birmingham Children's Hospital, with 16-year-old Michael. As a toddler, he had been diagnosed with haemophilia, a genetic disorder that stopped his blood clotting properly. Linda assumed the meeting was to discuss moving his care to the main Queen Elizabeth Hospital in the city. "It was so routine that my husband stayed in the car outside," she says. "Then, all of a sudden, the doctor said, 'Of course, Michael is HIV positive,' and he came out with it like he was talking about the weather outside. My stomach just fell." Between 1970 and 1991, 1,250 people with blood disorders were infected with HIV in the UK after taking Factor VIII - a new treatment that replaced the clotting protein missing from their blood. About half of those infected with HIV died of an Aids-related illness before life-saving antiretroviral drugs became available. Almost three decades later, Linda is giving evidence to the long-running public inquiry into the treatment disaster. She will appear alongside other parents, in a special session about the experiences of families whose children were infected in the 1970s and 80s. "I felt as though I needed to do it because I want to help get to the bottom of it," she says. "We all want to know why it was allowed to happen and to keep on happening as well." Read full story Source: BBC News, 6 October 2022 -
Content ArticleThe Office for National Statistics reports that 98,000 children are now living with the symptoms of Long Covid in the UK. To support these children and young people at school and college, Long Covid Kids has collaborated with education resource website Twinkl to produce a series of resources for teachers and teaching staff about Long Covid. Although the resources are free to download, you will need to sign up for a Twinkl account to access them.
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Content Article
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In this blog, Lotty Tizzard, Patient Safety Learning's Content and Engagement Manager, writes about a recent experience taking her son to a local walk-in centre. She describes the negative response she received when asking questions about her son's treatment, and considers the potentially dangerous consequences of patients and parents being disempowered to fully understand and contribute to their own, or their children's, care. -
News Article
Teen held in hospital for months due to lack of secure children’s home place
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A young teenager with complex needs in local authority care has been deprived of their liberty and held in hospital for several months because no secure placement could be found anywhere in England, a family court has heard. General hospitals are not registered to provide secure accommodation for children in this situation, and do not have the specialist staff required to provide the care and therapeutic input needed. High court judges have repeatedly raised concerns that children in urgent need of secure accommodation are waiting months to find a place, to the detriment of their mental health. England has an acute shortage of secure therapeutic placements for children with severe emotional and psychological needs. Government figures published in March show there are just 132 spaces in secure homes for children with urgent and complex needs. On any given day, about 50 children – twice as many as in the previous 12 months – were seeking a placement. About 30 children – an increase of a third on the previous 12-month period – end up placed hundreds of miles from home in Scotland due to the lack of available secure units in England. A Department for Education spokesperson said: “All children and young people deserve to grow up in stable, loving homes, and local authorities have a statutory duty to ensure that there are enough places for their looked-after children. “We are supporting local authorities through providing £259m to maintain capacity and expand provision in secure and open children’s homes. “This will provide high quality, safe homes for some of our most vulnerable children. It will mean children can live closer to their families, schools, and health services, in settings that meet their needs.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 4 October 2022 -
News Article
Thousands of children at risk as vaccination rates fall in England
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Thousands of children face an increased risk of catching deadly diseases in England, and significant outbreaks are likely, child health experts have warned, as “alarming” figures show vaccination levels have plunged across virtually all jabs. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is urging parents and guardians to ensure their children have received the routine jabs against potentially serious diseases, such as polio and measles, after official data revealed a drop in vaccination rates. NHS Digital data published Thursday showed vaccine coverage fell in 13 out of the 14 routine programmes for children up to five years old in England in 2021-22, compared with the year before. “Today’s publication of the childhood vaccination statistics in England is extremely worrying,” said Dr Doug Brown, the chief executive of the British Society for Immunology. “Immediate action to reverse this alarming multi-year downward trend and protect our communities from preventable diseases is urgently needed.” Helen Bedford, a professor of child public health at UCL’s Institute of Child Health, said the country was now facing “the concerning double whammy of many children being unprotected and the inevitability of disease rates increasing”. “In this situation, as night follows day, significant outbreaks of disease are likely. Measles disease is a particular concern as it is so highly infectious that any small decline in vaccine uptake results in outbreaks. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 29 September 2022 -
Content ArticleM was a young boy who had severe asthma, resulting in regular trips to A&E. His condition was eventually well controlled with a Seretide inhaler. When M's family moved house and changed their GP, they requested a new prescription of Seretide, but when they got to the pharmacy were given the wrong type of inhaler used to treat a different form of asthma. The GP had unwittingly chosen the wrong medication from a drop-down menu. M and his family were unaware that he was taking the wrong medication, and after a few days, M became breathless and his family decided to take him to hospital. Sadly, he died on the journey to A&E. At the inquest, the Coroner found that there two main issues that contributed to M’s death: the unintentional prescription of Serevent the failure to arrange and organise follow up contributed to M’s death.
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News ArticleChildren’s doctors plan to help poor families cope with the cost of living crisis and its feared impact on health, amid concern that cold homes this winter will lead to serious ill health. In an unusual move, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) is issuing the UK’s paediatricians with detailed advice on how they can help households in poverty. It has drawn up a series of resources, including advice for doctors treating children to use appointments to talk sensitively to their parents about issues that can have a big impact on their offspring’s health. These include diet, local pollution levels, socio-economic circumstances and difficulties at home or school, which are closely linked to children’s risk of being overweight, asthmatic or stressed. “Don’t shy away from it,” the RCPCH’s 17-page manual says. “If we aren’t asking families about things which may impact on their children’s health, we are short-changing the children themselves.” However, it adds that paediatricians should “pick your timing carefully [as] parents can feel alienated if we are perceived as jumping in with two feet to ask about smoking when they are stressed about an acutely unwell child with pneumonia.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 22 September 2022
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Content ArticleThe Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) is issuing the UK’s paediatricians with detailed advice on how they can help households in poverty. It has drawn up a series of resources, including advice for doctors treating children to use appointments to talk sensitively to their parents about issues that can have a big impact on their offspring’s health. These include diet, local pollution levels, socio-economic circumstances and difficulties at home or school, which are closely linked to children’s risk of being overweight, asthmatic or stressed.
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Content ArticleSepsis is the leading killer of infants and children worldwide and kills more than 250,000 Americans each year. On 1 April 2012, 12-year-old Rory Staunton died from sepsis after grazing his arm while playing basketball at school. This account by Rory's parents Orlaith and Ciaran Staunton describes the multiple errors by the school and different healthcare professionals that led to their son's death - from the wound not being cleaned by the school, to Rory's paediatrician missing key sepsis warning signs and the ER's failure to read Rory's blood test results that showed he was seriously ill. The article also includes a link to a short video where Orlaith and Ciaran describe what happened to Rory.
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Content ArticleAccording to the World Health Organization (WHO), medication harm accounts for 50% of the overall preventable harm in medical care. As well as telling the story of Melissa Sheldrick, who has been campaigning to improve medication safety since her son Andrew died as a result of a medication error, this blog looks at how making it 'safe-to-say' can reduce the risk of medication errors. Healthcare systems need a culture shift that makes it safe-to-say when something has gone wrong, is going wrong, or could go wrong. The authors argue that it is only when errors are appropriately managed, reported, responded to and learned from that we can improve the system as a whole, support people impacted to heal and take informed action to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future.
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EventuntilThis webinar is jointly sponsored by the International Society for Quality in Healthcare (ISQua) and American Academy of Pediatrics' Council on Quality Improvement and Patient Safety (AAP COQIPS) Join us for our first ISQua - AAP COQIPS webinar! In this interactive webinar you will learn about implementation tools and resources to decrease medication errors in the ambulatory paediatrics setting. These tools can also be applied to children with medical complexity, who are frequently at higher risk for medication errors due to challenges with care fragmentation, miscommunication, and polypharmacy. Register for the webinar
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News Article
It is crucial that doctors listen to patients – and their families
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Merope Mills’s recent article in the Guardian should be mandatory reading for all medical and nursing students. All of us who are senior doctors or nurses will recognise only too well the dangerous conditions that Merope describes: the senior doctors with overinflated egos; the internecine warfare between departments; the nursing staff and junior doctors who are rendered impotent by repeated attempts to galvanise action from off-site but know-it-all seniors; the lack of integrated thinking that results when there is no consistent lead clinician; and, most dangerous, not listening to the patient or their relatives, and not directly examining the patient. Candour and co-production are terms much used in healthcare, but for some staff these aspects of care are a million miles away from the ego-driven practice in which they engage. This is why Merope’s advice is so important. Do not have blind faith in your clinician. Do not leave all the thinking to them. Do equip yourself with knowledge and, most of all, do demand to be treated as an equal partner in the care of your body or your loved one. Current and former healthcare professionals respond to Merope Mills’s account of losing her daughter after a series of catastrophic medical errors. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 11 September 2022 -
News Article
Anger at plans to roll back Covid vaccines to under-11s in England
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The decision to reduce the number of children who are offered Covid jabs has prompted outcry from parent groups and academics. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said children who had not turned 5 by the end of last month would not be offered a vaccination, in line with advice published by the UK’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) in February 2022. UKHSA said the offer of Covid jabs to healthy 5 to 11-year-olds was always meant to be temporary. UKHSA’s Green Book, which provides information on the vaccine rollout for public health professionals, states: “This one-off programme applies to those aged 5 to 11 years, including those who turn 5 years of age before the end of August 2022". “Subject to further clarification, on-going eligibility in 2022/23, after the one off-programme, is expected to be for children in the academic years where children are aged 11 or 12 years.” However, Prof Christina Pagel, of University College London, criticised the move. “JCVI itself considered there to be a benefit to young children to be vaccinated – even if most of them had already been infected,” she said. “There is also the additional benefit to children of providing additional protection from developing long Covid, missing school during the acute illness and reducing transmission to household members, other children and teachers.” Pagel said that at least one serious Covid wave was expected later this year, but that many children about to start school would now have to wait six years for vaccination, with likely relatively frequent infections in that time. “When we know there is a safe and effective vaccine available this seems unjustifiable to me,” said Pagel, adding that – while rare – children had died from Covid. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 6 September 2022 -
Content ArticleInfant mental health describes the social and emotional wellbeing and development of children in the earliest years of life. It reflects whether children have the secure, responsive relationships that they need to thrive. However, services supporting infant mental health are currently limited; only 42% of CCGs in England report that their CAMHS service will accept referrals for children aged 2 and under. This briefing by the Parent-Infant Foundation is aimed at commissioners looking to set up specialist infant mental health support.
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Content ArticleOn 3 September 2021 assistant coroner Jonathan Stevens commenced an investigation into the death of Martha Mills, aged 13 years. Martha sustained a handlebar injury whilst cycling on a family holiday in Wales. She was transferred to King’s College Hospital London and died approximately one month later. Her medical cause of death was: 1a refractory shock 1b sepsis 1c pancreatic transection (operated) 1d abdominal trauma.
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Content ArticleSerious case reviews from the past twenty years have repeatedly highlighted the absence of professional curiosity as a core failing in the actions of health and social care professionals. However, 'professional curiosity' as a term is still not commonly used amongst healthcare professionals and there is no shared understanding of its meaning. This paper published by Diabetes on the Net, critically reviews current research surrounding professional curiosity and discusses the main themes. explores how inter-agency working can promote professional curiosity by supporting healthcare professionals to overcome the complex barriers that may arise during safeguarding cases. It discusses the role of Children and Young People’s diabetes clinics as an ideal platform for utilising the benefits of professional curiosity.
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Content ArticleSharing her story in the Guardian, Merope gives a heart breaking account of how her daughter, Martha Mills, was allowed to die, but also what happens when you have blind faith in doctors – and learn too late what you should have known to save your child’s life.
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