NHS England says it has noticed an ‘increase in delayed presentations’ of children who have ‘life threatening illness’ since the start of the coronavirus (Covid-19) crisis.
It has urged GPs to continue to assess symptoms in children ‘in the normal way’ despite the ongoing pandemic.
It said this comes as Covid-19 tends to be mild and self-limiting in children. It said the ‘threshold’ for face-to-face consultations should not have changed as a result of the current situation.
In a bulletin to practices, NHS England said: ‘Over the last week we have noticed an increase in delayed presentations of children with life threatening illness.
‘The threshold for face-to-face consultation, with appropriate infection control measures, in general practice and the referral to secondary care should not change during the Covid-19 pandemic.
‘Covid-19 tends to be a mild self-limiting respiratory illness in children. Therefore prolonged illness and/or other symptoms should not be attributed to COVID-19 and should be evaluated in the normal way.’
