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Showing results for tags 'Children and Young People'.
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Content ArticleYoung people and expert mental healthcare staff say patients are unlikely to receive in-patient mental health care unless they “have attempted suicide multiple times”, according to a new report published by Look Ahead Care and Support. Launched in the House of Lords, the report – funded by Wates Family Enterprise Trust and produced by experts Care Research – argues Accident and Emergency departments have become an ‘accidental hub’ for children and young people experiencing crisis but are ill-equipped to offer the treatment required. Based on in-depth interviews with service users, parents and carers, and NHS and social care staff from across England, the findings from the Look Ahead Care and Support report draws on experience of treating depression, anxiety, self-harm, suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts, eating disorders, addiction and psychosis.
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News Article
Sudden unexplained death in childhood debated in Parliament
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The issue of children dying unexpectedly and without any known cause has been debated in Parliament for the first time. Sudden unexplained death in childhood (SUDC) is a rare category of death in which the cause remains unknown even after thorough investigation. Former Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng, who led the debate, said SUDC had not had the attention it deserved. In his first speech as a backbencher for six years, he said it was important to not shy away from discussing "something that is incredibly difficult to deal with, emotionally very taxing, and one of the most serious medical phenomena". He said: "Imagine a death of a child, who has all his or her life in front of them, suddenly ended. If you can imagine that and if you can imagine that for one of your own children you can get a sense of how tragic and how difficult that occurrence is." He added: "It's such an uncomfortable issue but it is important to grasp uncomfortable issues to honour those who had died and prevent future deaths." He added: "It's such an uncomfortable issue but it is important to grasp uncomfortable issues to honour those who had died and prevent future deaths." The MPs were united in their call for more research to be carried out. They also called for the NHS website to be updated to include information about SUDC and for there to be more training for medical practitioners. Read full story Source: BBC News, 17 January 2023 -
News Article
Transgender people lose NHS waiting times High Court case
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A group of transgender people have lost their legal case against NHS England over waiting times to get seen by a gender specialist. The two trans adults and two trans children had tried to get the wait times - more than four years in one of their cases - deemed illegal. But a High Court judge ruled on Monday the waiting times are lawful. The Good Law Project - which helped to bring the legal action - said it would seek permission to appeal. The four people brought the legal action against NHS England (NHSE) over the waiting time to get a first appointment with a gender dysphoria specialist. The claimants argued that NHS England was failing to meet a duty to ensure 92% of patients referred for non-urgent care start treatment within 18 weeks. They said the waiting times were discriminatory, arguing the delays faced by trans people were longer than for other types of NHS treatment. But the judge dismissed the claim on several grounds. Read full story Source: BBC News, 16 January 2023 -
Content ArticleThis study examined the risks and patterns of childhood deaths before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this cohort study, there were 3409 childhood deaths from April 2019 to March 2020, 3035 deaths from April 2020 to March 2021, and 3428 deaths from April 2021 to March 2022. Overall risk of death was significantly lower from 2020 to 2021, but not from 2021 to 2022 when compared with the reference year of 2019 to 2020. These findings suggest that there was a significant reduction in all-cause child mortality during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic (2020-2021), which returned to near prepandemic levels the following year (2021-2022).
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Content ArticleIn November 2021, 15-year old Alice Tapper nearly died due to a missed diagnoses of a perforated appendix. In this opinion piece, Alice shares her experience of being admitted to hospital with intense abdominal pain and other serious symptoms. In spite of her parents' requests for imaging to rule out appendicitis, doctors diagnosed that Alice had a viral infection and refused to prescribe antibiotics. Alice's condition severely deteriorated, leading her father to call the hospital and beg a gastroenterologist for further investigation. Fortunately, the hospital granted his request and after an x-ray and ultrasound, Alice was found to have a perforated appendix. She was going into hypovolemic shock, when severe blood or other fluid loss makes the heart unable to pump enough blood to the body. Thankfully, emergency surgery and antibiotics saved Alice's life, but she reflects on the fact that without her father's intervention, she would probably have died. She describes how her doctors failed to take the concerns she and her parents repeatedly expressed seriously, and that this lack of responsiveness could have been fatal. She highlights research that shows that appendicitis is missed in up to 15% of paediatric patients, and that missed diagnosis is most common in children under five, and is more common in girls than boys.
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Content ArticleGlobally, the under-five mortality rate (U5MR) fell to 38 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2021, while under-five deaths dropped to 5.0 million. Although this demonstrates a decrease, this immense, intolerable and mostly preventable loss of life was carried unequally around the world , and children continue to face widely differing chances of survival based on where they are born. In contrast to the global rate, children born in sub-Saharan Africa are subject to the highest risk of childhood death in the world with a 2021 U5MR of 74 deaths per 1,000 live births – 15 times higher than the risk for children in Europe and Northern America and 19 times higher than in the region of Australia and New Zealand This report outlines and analyses figures from The United Nations Inter-Agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN IGME) to examine levels and trends in child mortality around the world during 2022.
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News Article
Five million children worldwide die before fifth birthday, says UN
Patient-Safety-Learning posted a news article in News
Five million children worldwide died before their fifth birthday in 2021, with almost half (47%) dying during their first month, according to new UN figures. Most of the deaths could have been prevented with better healthcare, say campaigners, adding that deaths among newborn babies haven’t reduced significantly since 2017. Children born in sub-Saharan Africa are 15 times more likely to die in childhood than children in Europe and North America. UN figures also show that 1.9 million babies were stillborn during 2021, more than three-quarters (77%) in sub-Saharan Africa and in south Asia. The risk of a woman having a stillborn baby in sub-Saharan Africa is seven times greater than for women in Europe and North America. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 10 January 2022 -
News ArticlePupils should learn what health problems they must not bother the NHS with, doctors and pharmacists have said. In a new strategy paper they call for a “wholesale cultural shift” towards more self-care, insisting this could both empower patients and reduce demand. Conditions like lower back pain, the common cold and acute sinusitis can generally be treated without the need for GPs or hospital visits, experts said. They called for the national curriculum to include requirements for both primary and secondary pupils to be taught to treat and manage common health problems at home. Medical students or pharmacists could go into school to offer lessons on “self-care techniques and signposting to appropriate use of NHS services”, they said. The paper is from the Self-Care Strategy Group, a coalition of pharmacy bodies and GP and patient groups. Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Times, 9 January 2023
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News Article
Children’s oral health is “national disgrace,” says head of royal college
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The poor state of children’s teeth is a damning indictment of widening inequalities in child health in England, the president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health has said. In an interview with The BMJ Camilla Kingdon said that paediatricians were seeing the effects of longstanding health inequalities widening as the cost of living crisis affects the types of ill health that children are presenting with. She further told The BMJ, “There are lots of examples. One that we often forget about is oral health and the state of children’s teeth, which is actually a national disgrace. The commonest reason for a child having a general anaesthetic in this country is dental clearance. That’s a terrible admission of failure.” In her interview with The BMJ, Kingdon identified asthma and nutrition as other major areas of child health where the UK was failing. She said that these trends were partly being driven by social factors and expressed concern at the lack of focus in policy on fixing them. She warned, “Our worry, with the health disparities white paper being kicked into the long grass, is that without that intention, without a clear signal from the government that this is a priority, all these ideas [for tackling child health inequalities] just won’t be prioritised and we will miss an opportunity to really intervene.” Read full story Source: BMJ, 4 January 2023 -
News Article
Child referrals for mental health care in England up 39% in a year
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The number of children in England needing treatment for serious mental health problems has risen by 39% in a year, official data shows. Experts say the pandemic, social inequality, austerity and online harm are all fuelling a crisis in which NHS mental health treatment referrals for under-18s have increased to more than 1.1m in 2021-22. In 2020-21 – the first year of the pandemic – the figure was 839,570, while in 2019-20 there were 850,741 referrals, according to analysis of official figures by the PA Media. The figures include children who are suicidal, self-harming, suffering serious depression or anxiety, and those with eating disorders. Dr Elaine Lockhart, chair of the child and adolescent psychiatry faculty at the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said the rise in referrals reflected a “whole range” of illnesses. She said “specialist services are needing to respond to the most urgent and the most unwell”, including young people suffering from psychosis, suicidal thoughts and severe anxiety disorder. Lockhart said targets for seeing children urgently with eating disorders were sliding “completely” and that more staff were needed. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 3 January 2023 -
Content ArticleIn this video published by Patient Safety Movement, Kimberly Cripe, CEO of the Children's Hospital of Orange County (CHOC), discusses how her hospital has incorporated Actionable Evidence-Based Practices to improve patient safety culture in a paediatric setting. She describes the many benefits of the approach including for staff morale and making financial savings.
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News ArticleHundreds of thousands of children have been left waiting by the NHS for the developmental therapies they need, with some waiting more than two years, The Independent can reveal. The long waiting lists for services such as speech and language therapy will see a generation of children held back in their development and will “impact Britain for the long haul”, according to the head of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH). More than 1,500 children have been left waiting for two years for NHS therapies, according to internal data obtained by The Independent, while a further 9,000 have been waiting for more than a year. The total waiting list for children’s care in the community is 209,000. Dr Camilla Kingdon, president of the RCPCH, told The Independent: “The extent of the community waiting lists is extremely alarming. Community health services such as autism services, mental health support and speech and language therapy play a vital role in a child’s development into healthy adulthood, and in helping children from all backgrounds reach their full potential. “A lack of access to community health services also has direct implications for children and families in socio-economic terms. Delays accessing these essential services can impact social development, school readiness and educational outcomes, and further drive health inequalities across the country.” She said health and care staff are working immensely hard, but that without support they will struggle to address the long delays, which will “impact Britain for the long haul”. Read full story Source: The Independent, 26 December 2022
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Content ArticleThis case study published by the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP) highlights the Epilepsy12 Audit’s approach to working with children and young people to improve paediatric epilepsy care. Epilepsy12 Youth Advocates are epilepsy experienced or interested children, young people, families and an epilepsy specialist nurse. They volunteer together to shape Epilepsy12 and to lead improvement activities with families and epilepsy services. The audit won the Richard Driscoll Memorial Award (RDMA) 2022. The RDMA asks HQIP commissioned programmes to describe how patients and carers influence the production of the patient-focused outputs of the programme.
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Content Article
This online comic has been developed by the Royal College of Anaesthetists and the Association of Paediatric Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland to help children aged 7-11 understand what it’s like to have a general anaesthetic, using familiar Beano characters to help reduce any anxiety they may have about surgery. It is a fun and playful way to help children understand more about their operation and how to prepare for it, and includes links to other resources. Readers can accompany Dennis on a fun-filled journey as he prepares to have his tonsils removed, from diagnosis to discharge from hospital. The comic answers children's questions, including: what is a general anaesthetic and is it safe? how will I feel when I wake up? how can I prepare for my operation? what should I do if I am worried or have questions? 'Dennis has an anaesthetic' will also help children and their parents and carers understand what happens in the run-up to an operation, the care children will need afterwards and how they can best prepare. -
News ArticleThe number of suspected scarlet fever cases since September has risen to nearly 30,000 after the UK Health Security Agency added almost 10,000 potential new infections in the last week. More than 27,000 people could have had infections since 12 September, according to the UKHSA, who revealed on Tuesday that there were more cases than first thought because of the “significant rise” in infections. The figures come from medical practitioners referring suspected cases to the local authority or health protection team. A total of 16 children aged under 18 have died from invasive group A streptococcus (iGAS), otherwise known as strep A. Parents are advised to contact 111 or a GP surgery if a child has symptoms. They can also include nausea and vomiting. New serious shortage protocols were issued to pharmacists last week in an attempt to help those experiencing supply issues with penicillin. Chemists had widely reported problems getting hold of liquid penicillin and amoxycillin due to the increase in demand. The antibiotics are often prescribed for children who have scarlet fever or strep A. People in the industry have also reported rising prices. Pharmacists are now able to prescribe an alternative antibiotic or formulation of penicillin, such as tablets. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 20 December 2022
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News ArticleThe mother of a sick girl has confronted the health secretary during a hospital visit in London, telling him that NHS staff are “worked to the bone” and the government is doing “terrible damage” to families on waiting lists. Sarah Pinnington-Auld, whose three-year-old daughter, Lucy, has cystic fibrosis, rebuked Steve Barclay over NHS staff working conditions and long waits for treatment as he visited King’s College hospital. She told the Conservative cabinet minister how her daughter was pushed off an “absolutely horrific” waiting list because of “the obscene number of people who came through and the lack of resources”. “The damage that you’re doing to families like myself is terrible, because it was agony for us as a family waiting for that call,” she said. “Preparing our children, for their sister and her hospital visit, for then it to be cancelled. And I know you look and we’re all numbers, but actually they’re people waiting for care.” “The doctors, the nurses, everyone on the ward is just brilliant, considering what they’re under, considering the shortage of staff, considering the lack of resources,” she said. “That’s what’s really upsetting, actually, because we have a daughter with a life-limiting, life-shortening condition and we have some brilliant experts and they’re being worked to the bone, and actually the level of care they provide is amazing, but they are not being able to provide it in the way they want to provide it because the resourcing is not there.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 19 December 2022
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News Article
Police investigating ‘rape of child’ at scandal-hit mental health hospital
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Police are investigating allegations of rape of a child involving two staff members at a scandal-hit mental health hospital, The Independent can reveal. Thames Valley Police confirmed it has launched an investigation after a report last month of rape made by a former patient of Taplow Manor, a private hospital in Maidenhead, Berkshire, run by The Huntercombe Group. The incident was reported to have taken place in 2019. Mark McGhee, a solicitor for Hutcheon Law, who is representing the family of the patient in a clinical negligence claim, said the allegation had been raised to the police about the patient who was a child and that the allegation involves two staff members at the time. In October, The Independent and Sky News revealed allegations of “systemic abuse” from 20 patients across The Huntercombe Group’s children’s mental health hospitals – Taplow Manor, Ivetsey Bank near Stafford, Watcombe Hall in Torquay, and The Huntercombe Hospital Norwich. Since the report, 30 more patients have come forward with allegations of poor treatment and the provider now also faces nine legal claims from former patients. Thames Valley Police are also investigating an incident involving the death of a child at the Maidenhead hospital in February. The CQC is conducting a separate criminal investigation into the serious incident which resulted in the death of the young person. Read full story Source: The Independent, 19 December 2022 -
News Article
‘Every chemist has a backroom’: the rise of secret FGM in Kenya
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
In Kisii town, south-west Kenya, a rundown roadside building houses a pharmacy. Like many others in the area, the pharmacy doubles as a clinic. Lilian Kemunto (not her real name), a former surgical nurse, set it up after she retired in 2018. She mainly does health check-ups but has also offered female genital mutilation (FGM) services on request. Kemunto has performed cuts since the 90s, after receiving training in basic surgical techniques from male colleagues in the local hospital where she worked. She would do the cuts in the hospital at night, but it was risky, she says, because management didn’t approve. “They would tell us: ‘Just do it, but if you’re caught, you’re on your own.’” She preferred cutting girls in a private home, in the middle of the night, saying it was much easier: “By 6am, the girls are back in their own homes, like nothing happened.” In Kisii county, medicalisation is standard. Two out of three cases of cutting are performed by health practitioners, in contrast to much of the country, where 70% of FGM cases are performed by traditional practitioners. Kemunto says she tries to avoid mishaps, and at a minimum requires some anaesthesia, a surgical blade, sterile towels, and cleaning solution to proceed. She also claims to use a non-invasive procedure: a small incision of the clitoris that practitioners call a “signature”. Kisii’s FGM practice is considered less severe than other areas, and anti-FGM campaigners are concerned that there’s a growing acceptance of the practice as more safe, hygienic and cosmetic. FGM rates in Kenya have gone down significantly over the past decade. The country passed strong laws in 2011, imposed hefty fines on practitioners, and stepped up surveillance and enforcement. But medicalisation is posing a new challenge for the east African nation, which has a 15% medicalisation rate: one of the highest in Africa. Earlier this month, Kenyan president William Ruto backed the country’s chief justice who said that FGM “should not be a conversation we are having in Kenya in the 21st century”, and reiterated his administration’s commitment to eradicating the practice. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 15 December 2022 -
News ArticleVulnerable patients, including some children, have faced long delays for a suitable bed as organisations argue over whose responsibility it is to fund and deliver their care, HSJ understands. In a letter outlining winter arrangements, NHS England has warned trust leaders and commissioners against delaying emergency mental health admissions – typically needed when a patient is away from home, and understood to be more common over the Christmas period – while determining which area has which responsibility. National mental health director Claire Murdoch wrote: “It is not acceptable to delay an emergency mental health admission while determining which area has clinical and financial responsibility for the care of an individual.” She added such admissions should be arranged “as quickly as possible, and without delay caused by any financial sign-off process”. It comes as HSJ has been told patients can often end up waiting for several days in emergency departments or in “inappropriate” out of area or acute beds when disputes occur over who is responsible for their care. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 15 December 2022
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News Article
Delays to mental health treatment in England ‘putting more children in care’
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Increasing numbers of emotionally troubled children have been taken into care while waiting long periods for NHS treatment because their condition deteriorated to the point where their parents could no longer cope with their behaviour, child protection bosses have revealed. Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS) president Steve Crocker said that since the pandemic, youngsters with complex emotional needs had become a significant factor in rising child protection referrals. “We are seeing children in the social care system because they have not been supported in the [NHS] mental health system,” he said. Crocker urged ministers to “do better” for children facing “unacceptable” delays in NHS mental health treatment, adding that it was not uncommon for waiting lists to involve waits of over a year. Councils were “filling gaps” in NHS provision but struggling to find placements for children with severe behavioural problems, and when they did, typically paid “untenable” fees of tens of thousands of pounds a week. He accused private children’s residential care providers and their “rapacious” hedge fund backers of “profiteering” from the care crisis, and urged the government to intervene to cap typical profit margins that were currently about 20%. “We do not see how this can be allowed to continue,” he said. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 13 December 2022 -
News Article
Strep A: Parents say son misdiagnosed before death
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The family of a boy who died of an invasive form of strep A have said they sought medical help three times before he was admitted to hospital. Jax Albert Jefferys, who attended Morelands Primary School in Waterlooville, Hampshire, died on 1 December, aged five. His family said they were initially told he had flu. Since September, UK Health Security Agency figures show 15 UK children have died after invasive strep A infections. Paying tribute to their "darling son", Jax's family said they had sought medical advice on three occasions during the four days leading up to his death and were told that he was suffering with influenza A. "We then followed the recommended course of action: to administer a proprietary paracetamol-based medication in the prescribed dosage," they said in a statement. However, they said on the fourth day Jax's condition "deteriorated so much" they "rushed him to hospital" and he later died. "Only after his death was it confirmed that the cause was [strep A]," the family said. Read full story Source: BBC News, 14 December 2022 -
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
