Increase in child hospital visits over anxiety around Strep A
Emergency departments in the Black Country have seen an increase in children being brought in.
A&E departments across the Black Country have seen a 30% increase in children being submitted over health concerns related to influenza and anxiety around Strep A.
That's from the chief executive of a NHS Trust said during an emergency winter planning meeting.
Richard Beeken, the chief executive of Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust, told senior NHS officials and reporters a combination of anxiety around Strep A, and an uptick in children being submitted with either influenza or respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), were the cause.
The meeting confirmed no children in the Black Country had been hospitalised due to Strep A, but that it had been an “exceptionally busy week” with “understandably anxious parents” seeking advice on Strep A and other children’s illnesses.
Dr Mohit Mandiratta, a GP based in Halesowen, said primary care will “always prioritise children”.
He said: “Parents are anxious with what they’re hearing and what they’re seeing. So we will always prioritise children, but capacity is limited, but we will do our best to see who we can and there is always a point of contact.
“So despite what people are hearing about the pressure the health services are under they should not be discouraged to get in touch. If you are concerned about your child going back to the gut instinct aspect, contact your GP if there’s no capacity you can’t get through to the GP, access 111, or go to A&E if instructed.”
It comes after GPs and pharmacists across the country say they are struggling to get hold of antibiotics for infections including Strep A, as the government continues to insist there are no shortages.
Yesterday, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said the number of children under 15 who had died from invasive Strep A illness in England had risen to 13, taking the UK total to 15.
No shortages of antibiotics have been recorded in the region, Dr Mandiratta added, but said if there were shortages at a particular pharmacy “other pharmacies can direct patients there to pick up their prescriptions and alternatives we can prescribe”.
The meeting, called the ‘Black Country Winter Preparedness Plan’, outlined key services available to plug “pinch points” usually experienced by the NHS between Christmas and New Year.
Such measures include the introduction of ‘virtual wards’; community first approaches to nursing care; and being efficient with primary care; to reduce the hours in emergency departments unless absolutely necessary.