Dataset Information

Short stay hospital admissions for an acutely unwell child: A qualitative study of outcomes that matter to parents and professionals.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Numbers of urgent short stay admissions (SSAs) of children to UK hospitals are rising rapidly. This paper reports on experiences of SSAs from the perspective of parents accessing urgent care for their acutely unwell child and of health professionals referring, caring for, or admitting children.

Methods

A qualitative interview study was conducted by a multi-disciplinary team with patient and public involvement (PPI) to explore contextual factors relating to SSAs and better understand pre-hospital urgent care pathways. Purposive sampling of Health Board areas in Scotland, health professionals with experience of paediatric urgent care pathways and parents with experience of a SSA for their acutely unwell child was undertaken to ensure maximal variation in characteristics such as deprivation, urban-rural and hospital structure. Interviews took place between Dec 2019 and Mar 2021 and thematic framework analysis was applied.

Results

Twenty-one parents and forty-eight health professionals were interviewed. In the context of an urgent SSA, the themes were centred around shared outcomes of care that matter. The main outcome which was common to both parents and health professionals was the importance of preserving the child's safety. Additional shared outcomes by parents and health professionals were a desire to reduce worries and uncertainty about the illness trajectory, and provide reassurance with sufficient time, space and personnel to undertake a period of skilled observation to assess and manage the acutely unwell child. Parents wanted easy access to urgent care and, preferably, with input from paediatric-trained staff. Healthcare professionals considered that it was important to reduce the number of children admitted to hospital where safe and appropriate to do so.

Conclusions

The shared outcomes of care between parents and health professionals emphasises the potential merit of adopting a partnership approach in identifying, developing and testing interventions to improve the acceptability, safety, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness of urgent care pathways between home and hospital.

SUBMITTER: Malcolm C

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9757586 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Short stay hospital admissions for an acutely unwell child: A qualitative study of outcomes that matter to parents and professionals.

Malcolm Cari C King Emma E France Emma E Kyle Richard G RG Kumar Simita S Dick Smita S Wilson Philip P Aucott Lorna L Turner Stephen W SW Hoddinott Pat P

PloS one 20221216 12

<h4>Background</h4>Numbers of urgent short stay admissions (SSAs) of children to UK hospitals are rising rapidly. This paper reports on experiences of SSAs from the perspective of parents accessing urgent care for their acutely unwell child and of health professionals referring, caring for, or admitting children.<h4>Methods</h4>A qualitative interview study was conducted by a multi-disciplinary team with patient and public involvement (PPI) to explore contextual factors relating to SSAs and bett ...[more]

PMID: 36525432

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Project description:ObjectivesThe aim of this sequential mixed-methods study was to describe and understand how paediatric short stay admission (SSA) rates vary across Health Board regions of Scotland.DesignExploratory sequential mixed-methods study. Routinely acquired data for the annual (per capita) SSA to hospital were compared across the 11 regions. Five diverse regions with different SSA per capita formed cases for qualitative interviews with health professionals and parents to explore how care pathways, service features and geography may influence decisions to admit.SettingScotland.ParticipantsAll children admitted to hospital 2015-2017. Healthcare staff (n=48) and parents (n=15) were interviewed.ResultsOf 171 039 urgent hospital admissions, 92 229 were SSAs, with a fivefold variation between 14 and 69/1000 children/year across regions. SSAs were higher for children in the most deprived compared with the least deprived communities. When expressed as a ratio of highest to lowest SSA/1000 children/year for diagnosed conditions between regions, the ratio was highest (10.1) for upper respiratory tract infection and lowest (2.8) for convulsions. Readmissions varied between 0.80 and 2.52/1000/year, with regions reporting higher SSA rates more likely to report higher readmission rates (r=0.70, p=0.016, n=11). Proximity and ease of access to services, local differences in service structure and configuration, national policy directives and disparities in how an SSA is defined were recognised by interviewees as explaining the observed regional variations in SSAs. Socioeconomic deprivation was seldom spontaneously raised by professionals when reflecting on reasons to refer or admit a child. Instead, greater emphasis was placed on the wider social circumstances and parents' capacity to cope with and manage their child's illness at home.ConclusionSSA rates for children vary quantitatively by region, condition and area deprivation and our interviews identify reasons for this. These findings can usefully inform future care pathway interventions.

Dataset Information

Short stay hospital admissions for an acutely unwell child: A qualitative study of outcomes that matter to parents and professionals.

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Short stay hospital admissions for an acutely unwell child: A qualitative study of outcomes that matter to parents and professionals.

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