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Showing results for tags 'Children and Young People'.
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News ArticleDelays in going to the emergency department because of the coronavirus pandemic lockdown may have been a contributory factor in the deaths of nine children, a snapshot survey of consultant paediatricians in the UK and Ireland has shown. Three of the reported deaths associated with delayed presentation were due to sepsis, three were due to a new diagnosis of malignancy, in two the cause was not reported, and one was a new diagnosis of metabolic disease. Read full story (paywalled) Source: BMJ, 30 June 2020
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NHS treatment delays linked to more child deaths than coronavirus
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
More children died after failing to get timely medical treatment during lockdown than lost their lives because of coronavirus, new research by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) suggests. Six children under the age of 16 have died from COVID-19 in Britain since the pandemic began, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). However, seeking medical help too late was a contributory factor in the deaths of nine children in paediatric care new analysis has found, with the figure likely to be higher. A survey of 2,433 paediatricians, carried out by the RCPCH, found that one in three handling emergency admissions had dealt with children who turned up later than usual for diagnosis or treatment. Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Telegraph, 25 June 2020 -
News ArticleA High Court judge has ruled that an NHS trust was negligent in failing to consider early enough that a toddler with fever, lethargy, and vomiting might have had a serious bacterial infection and to give her intramuscular antibiotics. Mr Justice Johnson said that doctors from University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust should have ordered a lumbar puncture on the 15 month old girl on the day she was first seen or the next day. The girl, referred to in court as SC, was sent by her GP to the hospital by ambulance on 26 January 2006 with a note describing his findings on examination and ending “?meningitis.” The GP, Mark Dennison, had given her intramuscular penicillin. Read full story (paywalled) Source: BMJ, 22 June 2020
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Children 'self-harming in hospital' after family visits banned
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Young people with learning disabilities are being driven to self-harm after being prevented from seeing their families during the coronavirus lockdown in breach of their human rights, a new report finds. The Joint Committee on Human Rights warned that the situation for children and young people in mental health hospitals had reached the point of “severe crisis” during the pandemic due to unlawful blanket bans on visits, the suspension of routine inspections and the increased use of restraint and solitary confinement. The report concluded that while young inpatients' human rights were already being breached before the pandemic, the coronavirus lockdown has put them at greater risk – and called on the NHS to instruct mental health hospitals to resume visits. It highlighted cases in which young people had been driven to self-harm, including Eddie, a young man with a learning disability whose mother, Adele Green, had not been able to visit him since 14 March. “When the lockdown came, it was quite quick in the sense that the hospital placed a blanket ban on anybody going in and anybody going out,” said Ms Green. “Within a week, with the fear and anxiety, he tried to take his own life, which really blew us away. We were mortified.” The Committee is urging NHS England to write to all hospitals, including private ones, stating they must allow visits unless there is a specific reason relating to an individual case why it would not be safe, and said the Care Quality Commission (CQC) should be responsible for ensuring national guidance is followed. Read full story Source: The Independent, 12 June 2020 -
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Young Minds: Coronavirus and mental health
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Mental health
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COVID-19 is no worse in immunocompromised children, says NICE
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Doctors should reassure parents and carers of children who are immunocompromised that immunosuppression does not seem to increase the risk of severe COVID-19, the UK National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) advises in a rapid guideline. “Covid-19 usually causes a mild, self-limiting illness in children and young people, even in those who are immunocompromised,” NICE says. Children and teenagers who are immunocompromised and their carers may be feeling particularly anxious and fearful about covid-19, so it is important they are involved in decision making as much as possible, NICE advises. Doctors should also support patients’ and carers’ mental wellbeing through communication and by signposting to charities and support groups. The guideline says that patients should not avoid their usual appointments unless they have been told to and should continue with their usual treatment. However, face-to-face contact should be reduced where safely possible and alternative approaches such as telephone, video, or email consultations used instead. When deciding whether to start treatments that affect the immune system, doctors should discuss the risks and benefits with the patient and their carers. If it is safe to delay treatment then watchful waiting should be undertaken. Read full story Source: BMJ, 1 May 2020 -
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National alert as ‘coronavirus-related condition may be emerging in children’
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A serious coronavirus-related syndrome may be emerging in the UK, according to an “urgent alert” issued to doctors, following a rise in cases in the last two to three weeks, HSJ has learned. An alert to GPs and seen by HSJ says that in the “last three weeks, there has been an apparent rise in the number of children of all ages presenting with a multisystem inflammatory state requiring intensive care across London and also in other regions of the UK”. It adds: “There is a growing concern that a [covid-19] related inflammatory syndrome is emerging in children in the UK, or that there may be another, as yet unidentified, infectious pathogen associated with these cases.” Little is known so far about the issue, nor how widespread it has been, but the absolute number of children affected is thought to be very small, according to paediatrics sources. The syndrome has the characteristics of serious COVID-19, but there have otherwise been relatively few cases of serious effects or deaths from coronavirus in children. Some of the children have tested positive for COVID-19, and some appear to have had the virus in the past, but some have not. Read full story Source: HSJ, 27 April 2020 Do you work in paediatrics? Have you seen similar trends emerging? What are your thoughts on the concerns raised? Join the conversation in the hub community area: -
News ArticleA three-year-old child died after its desperate mother spent more than an hour on hold to the NHS 111 helpline. The ill child suffered a cardiac arrest at its home and died in hospital, according to details of critical incidents affecting children in London amid the coronavirus crisis. Another case saw a six-month-old die from sepsis and liver failure because the parents feared the child could catch Covid-19 in hospital, the Evening Standard reports. Doctors have raised concerns that parents are not seeking treatment for their children amid the outbreak. Read full story Source: 16 April 2020, Mail Online
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Visiting the Intensive Care Unit: activity book for children
Claire Cox posted an article in Patient-centred care
The activity book helps introduce children to ICUs, has activities to help them understand what ICUs do and what they might see when they visit one. They can write about how they feel, and their relative, if they would like to. The book also comes with an information sheet for parents or carers, about ways to support the child during this difficult time. -
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Children may be COVID-19 ‘collateral damage’
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Children may have died from non-coronavirus illnesses because they are not coming to hospital quickly enough, amid concerns NHS 111 may be giving flawed advice to stay away, according to senior paediatricians. HSJ understands the concern about 111 giving the wrong advice to parents who should travel to hospital had been “escalated” to national leaders. Several senior paediatric leaders in London raised serious concerns to HSJ. They said several children in the past week had been admitted to intensive care in London, and had been harmed — and, in some cases, died — because of the issue, though they did not want to identify particular hospitals or cases. The sources said it was a national problem. Read full story Source: HSJ, 3 April 2020 -
News ArticleHospitals should allow parents to be with children who are being treated for the coronavirus, NHS England has confirmed, after a 13-year-old boy died without any family members beside him. Under its national guidance to hospitals, parents are considered essential visitors, but hospitals do have discretion to suspend visitors if it is “considered appropriate”. Anyone who has symptoms of COVID-19 should not be allowed to visit a hospital. NHS England confirmed the position after 13-year-old Ismail Mohamed Abdulwahab died at King’s College Hospital in south London in the early hours of Monday without any family members present. A statement by his family suggested he was alone because of the risk of infection. On its website the hospital repeated the guidance sent to trusts by NHS England that states children are allowed one parent or carer as a visitor, but declined to explain why his family were not with him. The end-of-life charity Marie Curie has also called on doctors to allow families to be with their loved ones, describing it as an “important part of their duty of care”. Read full story Source: The Independent, 2 April 2020
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In praise of NHS domestics: a blog by Adam's mum
Claire Cox posted an article in By patients and public
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Infant mortality rate in Northern Ireland is the worst in the UK, report finds
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Northern Ireland's infant mortality rate remains the highest of any UK region although it has decreased, according to a new report. Infant mortality is a measure of deaths of children under one year of age. The report from the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) shows the current rate is 4.2 deaths per 1,000 live births. In 2017, the figure stood at 4.8 deaths. Infant mortality rates decreased in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales but remained unchanged in England, which has the second highest rate of 3.9 deaths per 1,000. The report also highlights an increase in the suicide rate among young people aged 15–24 years. Responding to the figures, Health Minister Robin Swann said the physical and mental health of children and young people was a "priority" for the for the Northern Ireland Executive. "My department is already investing in a number of programmes and strategies which seek to address child health inequalities and improve the wellbeing of our children." Dr Ray Nethercott, RCPCH officer for Ireland acknowledged the current healthcare crisis as well as concerns about waiting lists and standard of care but added that "children's health and wellbeing should not be seen as being in competition with adult services or health provision". "Acting early to treat and prevent conditions, and reducing the impact of factors such as poverty, can really improve health outcomes. A healthier population of children and young people will reduce many of the pressures on adult services in the long term." Read full story Source: BBC News, 4 March 2020 -
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Young people put at risk by delays for treatment
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
More than 70 children and young people have been put at risk by long delays in treatment by mental health services in Kent and Medway, HSJ has learned. According to a response to a Freedom of Information request submitted by HSJ, 205 harm reviews have been carried out for patients waiting for treatment following a referral to the North East London Foundation Trust, which runs the child and adolescent mental health services in Kent and Medway. Of those, 76 patients, who had all waited longer than the 18 week target time for treatment, were found to be at risk of harm. One patient had to be seen immediately as they were judged to be at “severe” risk. Seven were found to be at “moderate” risk and 68 at “low” risk. The trust said “risk” meant a risk of harm to themselves or others. But it said none of the 76 patients had come to actual harm. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 25 February 2020 -
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