London (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Children across the UK are suffering severe damage to their health – including chronic discomfort, asthma flare-ups, weight loss and developmental problems – because of long pauses in NHS care.
Some under-18s are discovering it so hard to obtain immediate treatment for their diabetes or epilepsy that they are compelled to turn to A&E for care because their health has declined so badly. Children’s doctors expressed the findings were “shocking” and cautioned that some children would bear “lifelong consequences” as a result of delays that could occasionally last several years.
How Long Are Children Waiting for Essential Care?
The details have appeared in a dossier of evidence the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) has collated showing the harm that treatment unavailability causes. One paediatrician specialising in neurodevelopmental problems stated children who joined the list had to wait six years for their first arrangement because the service was unable to satisfy demand. Another stated the average waiting time for an initial consultation was three years and five months.
What Impact Do NHS Delays Have on Family Stress?
The anxiety and challenges forced by the delays can be so hard for children and families to deal with that some parents have even split up as a result of that stress because they have reached “breaking point”, the college stated. In addition, some families are being forced to pay for private care, to avoid NHS waiting lists. The RCPCH stated its survey of 195 paediatricians operating in the four home nations revealed that NHS officials had to place more aids into under-18s care.
How Are NHS Delays Affecting Children’s Development?
Dr Ronny Cheung, the college’s officer for health services, stated: “My paediatric colleagues have delivered a shocking snapshot of the state of child health services today. While these effects are not a surprise to me as a consultant paediatrician, they are still a sobering read.
“The effects of long waits are as devastating as they are far-reaching: children and their households denied child disability payments until caught by a paediatrician; mild symptoms moving into much more complicated conditions and decreased quality of life, school exclusions and wider family stress.
“These are results that will have lifelong consequences and, tragically, are repeated hundreds of thousands of times across the UK.” Some children with spinal deformities end up with heart and breathing issues because they have to wait so long to have surgery, or the operation becomes more difficult, Cheung said.