Listen to the Parents

Two recent articles from The Lancet Child and Adolescent Health have proven very popular.  Both centre on the topic of the importance of listening to the concerns of parents and caregivers about their sick child.

This is timely given recent revelations around the death of toddler, Joe Massa at a NSW hospital and the introduction of patient and family initiated clinical review processes at various health services.  These include Martha's Rule in the UK, Ryan's Rule in QLD and REACH, here in NSW.

Mills et al (2025), in their single centre study, show that parent/caregiver concern for their child is correlated with increased incidence of clinical deterioration including ICU admission and mechanical ventilation.  They implemented and suggest a simple measure of asking caregivers if they feel their child's condition is worsening prior to taking vital signs.  They found that caregivers could pick up deterioration prior to this being reflected in the child's vital signs, proving the insight of caregivers to be extremely important in the assessment of a child.  Agulnik (2025) provides comment on this important study in their comment in the same issue of the journal.

These two articles provide impetus for further studies and change in the way parents and caregivers are listened to in health care settings. To read them, click on the links below or contact us.

Mills, E., Lin, P., Asghari-Jafarabadi, Wes, A & Craig, S. (2025). Association between caregiver concern for clinical deterioration and critical illness in children presenting to hospital: a prospective cohort study. Lancet Child and Adolescent Health, 9(7), 450-458.

Agulnik, A. (2025). Listen to the parents: caregiver concern and development of critical illness. Lancet Child and Adolescent Health, 9(7), 440-441.