Prime Minister admits letting children down as 100,000 wait hours in A&E
News that 100,000 infants were left waiting longer than six hours to be seen in A&E in England last year is extremely concerning. We know that for babies and children who attend hospital with symptoms of acute conditions such as meningitis, early treatment is critical in preventing lasting injury or death.
A landmark report being published this week (Thurs) warned: "Childhood is precious because it is brief; too many children are spending too much of it waiting for care."
Commissioned by the health secretary Wes Streeting and authored by the leading cancer surgeon Lord Ara Darzi, the report found that 100,000 infants aged two and under are facing waits of at least six hours in A&E departments a year – up 60 per cent since 2009.
The devasting consequences of these delays can be seen in a case I am currently investigating for a 3-year-old who had to have his right leg amputated below the knee following a failure to diagnose him with meningitis and sepsis at Colchester Hospital.
The medical negligence claim is against the east Suffolk and north Essex NHS Trust on behalf of the boy, who was discharged twice from the hospital despite having clear symptoms of a serious infection, including seizure.
He developed sepsis and was eventually admitted to Addenbrookes Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) and put in an induced coma. He suffered damage to his kidneys and underwent emergency surgery on both his legs to try and relive the pressure on his veins from the sepsis. Unfortunately, the procedure wasn't successful on the right leg and medics were forced to amputate. He also sustained brain damage and significant hearing loss.
The boy is described by his family as being a "force of nature" who is loved by everyone. If his treatment had not been delayed it is likely that he would still have his right leg and be able to run and play like other children his age.
Guidance from the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) states that children who present ay hospital with suspected bacterial meningitis or meningococcal disease should be given antibiotics within one hour of arrival.
Lord Darzi's report will outline how failings across all parts of the NHS are putting the most vulnerable people at risk. The review found that approximately 800,000 children and young people are on NHS waiting lists for hospital treatment, with 175,000 waiting between six and 12 months and 35,000 waiting for more than a year.
It also found that life-threatening and life-limiting conditions among children are up 40 per cent over the past two decades amid warnings of the impact of falling vaccination rates.
Commenting on the findings, prime minister Keir Starmer said that too many children "are being let down" by the health service. He added: "Everybody who has used the NHS, or whose relatives have, knows that it’s broken."
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