Suzanne Callander reports on a new framework which advises a whole system approach to ensure that deterioration in children is recognised and responded to quickly and appropriately in hospitals.
Failure to recognise and treat children and young patients whose condition is deteriorating is a cause of significant unintended harm within the healthcare environment. If their condition deteriorates during their time in hospital and this is not picked up and treated quickly enough it can lead to severe harm, or even death.
Research has shown that over onequarter of preventable deaths in children or adults were due to them not being properly monitored and the right systems not being in place to quickly identify and act on deterioration.1 Further, 7% of patient safety incidents reported to the National Reporting and Learning System (NRLS) in 2015 as causing death or severe harm relate to a failure to recognise or act on deterioration.
UK paediatric mortality was found to be the highest in Europe in a 2011 report2 and there is also evidence which suggests that missed deterioration3,4 and difference in hospital performance contributes to this.5 In a bid to improve outcomes and reduce the incidence of deterioration in acutely ill infants, children and young people, a joint initiative with the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, NHS Improvement has introduced the first whole-system framework for tackling deterioration of health in children. It calls on healthcare providers and parents to work together as a team, and urges medical and nursing staff to encourage parents to speak up if they have concerns.
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