The waiting list for paediatric care in England has reached a record high, with 423,500 individuals under the age of 18 awaiting treatment. Among them, 23,396 children have had to endure wait times exceeding one year for their appointments.
The chair of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, Jeanette Dickson, has described the delays facing children and young people as, “The forgotten casualties of the NHS’s waiting list” according to The Guardian.
Although the NHS treatment targets say that 92% should be seen within 18%, analysis show that only 57% are able to do so. These statistics were obtained from an analysis of official performance data from the Royal College Of Paediatrics and Child Health and published by the NHS.
Dr Camilla Kingdon, who is the president of the Royal College Of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPH), emphasised how “the damaging impact” caused by long waiting could affect children’s overall wellbeing. She pointed to instances where children with severe hearing issues were negatively impacted due to delays in receiving necessary surgery for cochlear implants.”
Dr. Kingdon also highlighted that delays for under-18 patients are not limited to hospital care; they also encounter delays when accessing community-based services. She said: “I had a baby with an evolving cerebral palsy who desperately needed a special occupational therapy chair. This was a bright little boy of eight months who had every potential of making very good progress. Because he [was in] a neighbouring borough with very long therapy waiting lists, there was a six-month delay for getting the chair. Six months’ delay when you’re eight months old and wanting to sit but needing the extra support is an absolute disaster.”
Concerns were expressed by Dickson and Kingdon while the academy released a new report on children health, which criticised the government for neglecting medical needs of young people when creating essential health policies. The government’s controversial decision to release a strategy encompassing numerous significant conditions instead of creating distinct plans for each condition was highlighted in this report. Even though the strategy will replace some child health plans, it mainly focuses on adult health.
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