NHS rolls out early warning health system for paediatric patients

Doctors will use the service to track signs of deterioration in paediatric patients

The NHS has announced the launch of its Paediatric Early Warning Health System (PEWS) to identify deterioration, escalate care and act on parental concerns of children’s health faster.

In partnership with the Royal College of Paediatric and Child Health and the Royal College of Nursing, PEWS will provide a single, national standardised process for patients, families and staff to ensure issues are detected and escalated quickly.

For the past three years, the early warning system has been trialled across 15 sites.

PEWS will allow doctors to track any signs of deterioration in paediatric patients on a chart, which measures factors including blood pressure, heart rate, oxygen levels and levels of consciousness, with different scores representing levels of concern.

There will be four separate charts that each cover a different age range, including zero to 11 months, one to four years, five to 12 years and patients aged 13 years and over.

Additionally, if a parent or carer raises a concern that their child’s health is worsening more than the score is showing, the child’s care will escalate regardless of other clinical observations.

The NHS will implement any guidance from Martha’s Rule within the early warning system as the programme develops.

Further plans to expand PEWS to mental health, ambulance and community services are set to be implemented in due course.

The NHS already has a National Early Warning System (NEWS) for adults, which was updated in 2017 and developed by the Royal College of Physicians to improve the detection and response to clinical deterioration in adult patients.

With the new paediatric warning system alongside the already-existing NEWS, children will additionally benefit in hospital settings.

Dame Ruth May, chief nursing officer for England, said: “It is vital that parents, children and young people are listened to when making clinical decisions.

“PEWS ensures that escalation of care takes place in response to medical observations, listening to the voices of children and young people, and parent/carer concern.”