Impact of COVID-19 on outpatient appointments in children and young people in England: an observational study.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

To describe the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on outpatient appointments for children and young people.

Setting

All National Health Service (public) hospitals in England.

Participants

All people in England aged <25 years.

Outcome measures

Outpatient department attendance numbers, rates and modes (face to face vs telephone) by age group, sex and socioeconomic deprivation.

Results

Compared with the average for January 2017 to December 2019, there was a 3.8 million appointment shortfall (23.5%) for the under-25 population in England between March 2020 and February 2021, despite a total rise in phone appointments of 2.6 million during that time. This was true for each age group, sex and deprivation fifth, but there were smaller decreases in face

SUBMITTER: Bottle A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9364042 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature