Overview

• Researchers analysed 245,099 paediatric intensive care admissions from 2008 to 2021 using national audit data, providing the first UK-wide evidence of outcome disparities.
• Children from the most deprived areas experienced a 4.2 percent mortality rate in intensive care, compared with 3.1 percent for those from the wealthiest communities.
• Asian patients faced a 5.1 percent death rate and 52 percent higher odds of dying than white patients admitted to PICUs.
• Youngsters from deprived and Asian backgrounds arrived more severely ill, stayed an average of 66 hours versus 52 hours for white children, and had more unplanned readmissions.
• Healthcare leaders and the NHS Race and Health Observatory are calling for urgent structural reforms to tackle child poverty, improve access to care, and close these gaps.