New Child Deterioration Alert System to Be Introduced Across England’s A&Es

Parents’ concerns that their child is becoming more seriously unwell will be able to trigger an immediate escalation of care under a new national safety system being introduced across A&E departments in England this winter.

The National Paediatric Early Warning System will require staff to measure and record signs including heart rate, blood pressure, breathing, oxygen levels and consciousness. Age-specific charts will help clinicians recognise potentially dangerous changes in babies, children and young people and determine whether more urgent attention is needed.

However, the system will not rely on clinical measurements alone. Concerns raised by a parent, carer, member of staff or the child themselves should prompt action even where the calculated warning score remains low. This could include another assessment, closer observation or changes to treatment.

More than 90 hospitals already use the system on children’s inpatient wards, but this will be its first national rollout across emergency departments. It is separate from, but will operate alongside, the planned expansion of Martha’s Rule, which will provide another route for families and staff to request an urgent review when they believe concerns about deterioration are not being heard.

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