Variation in initial health assessment of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children: a cross-sectional survey across England
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Nezafat Maldonado, Behrouz
Armitage, Alice
Williams, Bhanu
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Objective:
To assess variation in current practice of Initial Health Assessments (IHA) for Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children (UASC) across England.
Design: Cross-sectional survey
Main outcomes measures: Type of routine assessment carried out, threshold to specialist referrals and facilities available to complete IHA.
Results:
Eighty-six health professionals responded across England; 47% had received training in in UASC IHA and 33% in UASC mental health issues.. The majority (80%) of IHAs were conducted with translator support and 7% of participants reported CAMHS input. Around half of clinicians (53%) performed tuberculosis and blood borne virus screening for all UASC, whilst other infectious diseases (ID) screening was symptom and risk factor dependent. 14% of clinicians routinely comment on age assessment and 76% share the IHA report and Health Plan with UASC. The time allocated for assessment range between 30 and 90 minutes.
Conclusion:
There is significant variation in practice around UASC IHAs across England, notably around CAMHS input, time allocated, translation facilities and ID screening. The results suggest that, an increase in resources available for UASC teams, improved access to specialist services and further training on UASC health are all needed. Guidance that aims to set a best practice framework for UASC IHA delivery such as a ‘One-Stop Shop’ model would help to standardise UASC IHA across the country.
To assess variation in current practice of Initial Health Assessments (IHA) for Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children (UASC) across England.
Design: Cross-sectional survey
Main outcomes measures: Type of routine assessment carried out, threshold to specialist referrals and facilities available to complete IHA.
Results:
Eighty-six health professionals responded across England; 47% had received training in in UASC IHA and 33% in UASC mental health issues.. The majority (80%) of IHAs were conducted with translator support and 7% of participants reported CAMHS input. Around half of clinicians (53%) performed tuberculosis and blood borne virus screening for all UASC, whilst other infectious diseases (ID) screening was symptom and risk factor dependent. 14% of clinicians routinely comment on age assessment and 76% share the IHA report and Health Plan with UASC. The time allocated for assessment range between 30 and 90 minutes.
Conclusion:
There is significant variation in practice around UASC IHAs across England, notably around CAMHS input, time allocated, translation facilities and ID screening. The results suggest that, an increase in resources available for UASC teams, improved access to specialist services and further training on UASC health are all needed. Guidance that aims to set a best practice framework for UASC IHA delivery such as a ‘One-Stop Shop’ model would help to standardise UASC IHA across the country.
Date Issued
2022-04-22
Date Acceptance
2022-03-30
Citation
BMJ Paediatrics Open, 2022, 6 (1), pp.1-6
ISSN
2399-9772
Publisher
BMJ Publishing Group
Start Page
1
End Page
6
Journal / Book Title
BMJ Paediatrics Open
Volume
6
Issue
1
Copyright Statement
© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2022. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.
This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.
License URL
Identifier
https://bmjpaedsopen.bmj.com/content/6/1/e001435
Subjects
Science & Technology
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
Pediatrics
adolescent health
epidemiology
health services research
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2022-04-22