Why did the children stop coming? Reasons for paediatric emergency department attendance decrease during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom: A qualitative study

Breckons, M.; Thorne, S. J.; Walsh, R.; Bhopal, S. S.; Owens, S.; Rankin, J.

Objective: To explore parents' experiences and views relating to their use of children's emergency healthcare services during the Covid-19 pandemic. Design: Qualitative telephone interview study using in-depth interviews, based on the principles of grounded theory. Recorded, transcribed verbatim, managed in NVivo version 12, analysed by thematic analysis. Setting: North East England, United Kingdom. Participants: Parents of children aged 0-8 years. Findings: Three major themes emerged from the interview data: Risk to children and families, Sources of Information, and Making Healthcare-seeking Decisions. These themes encompassed a range of intellectual and emotional responses in the way that parents interpreted information related to Covid-19, and their sense of responsibility towards family and wider society. Conclusions: Together these themes aid understanding of the changes in paediatric emergency department attendances reported in the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic in the UK. The analysis suggests that public health messaging directed at those seeking urgent care for children may be inadequate and lead to adverse consequences, the impacts of which require further study and refinement.