The number of children and young people being seen in hospital emergency departments rose by more than 7.5% between 2014/15 and 2015/16.
This equates to 4.4 million attendances – a trend that is putting growing pressure on hospital services, according to the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH).
In line with this growing demand, the number of short stay paediatric assessment units (SSPAUs) across the UK has increased from 144 to 178 in the last eight years. An SSPAU is hospital based facility in which infants, children and young people with acute illness, injury or other urgent conditions can be assessed, investigated and observed and treated with an expectation of discharge in less than 24 hours. Figures show that approximately 85% of all unplanned admissions are isolated short stays of under two days, with 0-19 year olds increasingly staying for less than 24 hours.
The RCPCH’s ‘Standards for Short Stay Paediatric Assessment Units’, marks the first time a national/UK wide set of standards has been published for SSPAUs, and reflects the fact that these units are becoming a key way of treating infants, children and young people quickly and effectively. They are often the hub for coordination and delivery of emergency ambulatory care of infants, children and young people and play a major role in preventing admission to inpatient wards, ensuring children are home again with their families.
Dr John Criddle, clinical lead for the SSPAU standards, said: “The increased demand on hospital services is well documented, and infants, children and young people are a large proportion of those being seen in hospitals – with under 15’s accounting for 2.5 times the number of attendances than the over 80s. Our priority is to make sure unwell children are seen promptly by the right healthcare professional in the most appropriate setting. For some this will mean time in hospital and treatment on a ward, but in general, children shouldn’t be admitted to hospital if it is possibly avoidable. It is unsettling for the child and the family if they are admitted for less than a day, when in fact they could be treated just as well in a short stay unit. It may reduce family disturbance all round, result in more effective treatment and has the potential to reduce costs due to fewer admissions and shorter length of stay.”
