Imperial College London
Dr Ian Maconochie

DrIanMaconochie

Faculty of Medicine, Department of Infectious Disease

Professor of Practice (Paediatric Emergency Medicine)
 
 
 
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Contact

 

+44 (0)20 3312 3729i.maconochie

 
 
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Location

 

Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Wing (QEQM)St Mary's Campus

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Summary

 

Publications

Citation

BibTex format

@article{Nijman:2020:10.1136/emermed-2019-208699,
author = {Nijman, R and Maconochie, I and Lyttle, M and Krone, J and Mintegi, S and Christopher, B and von, Both U},
doi = {10.1136/emermed-2019-208699},
journal = {Emergency Medicine Journal},
pages = {5--13},
title = {Emergency care provided to refugee children in Europe: RefuNET - a cross-sectional survey study},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/emermed-2019-208699},
volume = {38},
year = {2020}
}
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RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)

TY  - JOUR
AB  - Background Refugee children and young people have complex healthcare needs. However, issues related to acute healthcare provision for refugee children across Europe remain unexplored. This study aimed to describe the urgent and emergency healthcare needs of refugee children in Europe, and to identify obstacles to providing this care.Methods An online cross-sectional survey was distributed to European healthcare professionals via research networks between 1 February and 1 October 2017 addressing health issues of children and young people aged <18 years fulfilling international criteria of refugee status, presenting to emergency departments. Survey domains explored (1) respondent’s institution, (2) local healthcare system, (3) available guidance and educational tools, (4) perceived obstacles and improvements required, (5) countries of origin of refugee children being seen and (6) presenting signs and symptoms of refugee children.Results One hundred and forty-eight respondents from 23 European countries completed the survey, and most worked in academic institutions (n=118, 80%). Guidance on immunisations was available for 30% of respondents, and on safeguarding issues (31%), screening for infection (32%) or mental health (14%). Thirteen per cent reported regular teaching sessions related to refugee child health. Language barriers (60%), unknown medical history (54%), post-traumatic stress disorder (52%) and mental health issues (50%) were perceived obstacles to providing care; severity of presenting illness, rare or drug-resistant pathogens and funding were not.Conclusions Many hospitals are not adequately prepared for providing urgent and emergency care to refugee children and young people. Although clinicians are generally well equipped to deal with most types and severity of presenting illnesses, we identified specific obstacles such as language barriers, mental health issues, safeguarding issues and lack of information on previous medical history. There wa
AU  - Nijman,R
AU  - Maconochie,I
AU  - Lyttle,M
AU  - Krone,J
AU  - Mintegi,S
AU  - Christopher,B
AU  - von,Both U
DO  - 10.1136/emermed-2019-208699
EP  - 13
PY  - 2020///
SN  - 1472-0205
SP  - 5
TI  - Emergency care provided to refugee children in Europe: RefuNET - a cross-sectional survey study
T2  - Emergency Medicine Journal
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/emermed-2019-208699
UR  - https://emj.bmj.com/content/38/1/5
UR  - http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/81281
VL  - 38
ER  -
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