Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of Paediatric Inflammatory Multisystem Syndrome in the NHS.
Following the first reports of paediatric inflammatory multisystem syndrome (PIMS) cases in London in April 2020, the former Public Health England initiated enhanced prospective national surveillance of PIMS cases with symptom onset between 1 March and 15 June 2020. NHS England used a rapid consensus exercise to develop national clinical management guidance on the condition.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence recommends that clinicians follow guidance from the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, which directs critically ill children to acute care facilities. Training for paediatricians on PIMS has been supported by webinars for clinician decision makers and regular updates to paediatric critical care networks. Children with PIMS are identified, including appropriate treatment pathways, supported by seven specialised disease centres co-ordinating treatment advice.