We have been contacted by the Child Death Overview Panel to reiterate advice related to healthcare support for children at this time.
They have asked us to circulate the message that:
“Doctors and paediatricians are concerned that are in the current COVID pandemic, many families are not receiving the health and social care support they need and are less willing to attend hospital for their children’s health care needs. This may result in higher thresholds before parents and children attend hospital.
In some cases, this means they are seeing infants, children and young people later in the course of a health problem, so that some are arriving very sick, or worse, already deceased. The reason for this late attendance is the fear of acquiring COVID in hospital.
Paediatricians want to send out a clear message to parents and carers: ‘If your child is very unwell, we want to see them
– we don’t want parents to wait or to worry’
Children generally do NOT suffer serious illness as a result of COVID 19. This applies to even our most vulnerable children, yet some of the conditions that children will become ill with are far more serious.
If parents are concerned they should contact their GP or dial 111 or, if very worried, go to a local urgent care centre or to A&E.
Hospitals have measures in place to help protect people from COVID-19 and full personal protection equipment is available for all consultations taking place with patients in our local hospitals.”
The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health have prepared a leaflet giving advice of when to seek medical help and it can be accessed here.
Matt Allman, Headteacher, said: “We would urge all parents to access health care advice and treatment exercising their usual judgement and not delay treatment due to the coronavirus. We well empathise with the worries out there, and share them with our own families, but the clinical advice is clearly well-founded and gives us absolute direction on what we should be doing.”
