A senior Cumbrian doctor is urging parents to bring their child to hospital if they are unwell during the coronavirus outbreak.

Dr Katarina Berankova, clinical director and consultant paediatrician at the North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust is urging parents not to stay away from hospital during the cornavirus outbreak, if they feel their child needs urgent medical attention.

Dr Berankova said fewer children were being brought to the two hospitals under the trust - the Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle and the West Cumberland Hospital in Whitehaven - and she is concerned this is either due to fears of exposure to coronavirus, or a belief that hospital services are too busy to cope with more patients.

“Health services are still open and if you’re worried about your child, you need to seek medical help," she said.

"You can still call your GP surgery, check 111 online or if your child is very unwell, call 999 to arrange urgent review.”

Dr Berankova, who works at the Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle, added that other factors could also be the cause of fewer children being presented to hospital:

“We would typically see a reduction in acute admissions during Easter break anyway.

"It is very probable that this reduction is also due to recent school closures alongside warmer weather which in general help to reduce the spread of viral infections among children.

“These - mostly fever and upper or lower respiratory symptoms - are the most common reasons children are being referred to paediatric care.

“Even within current limitations in acute care, all possible channels for patients should be kept open for accessing healthcare for any patients who need urgent/acute assessment. If you are worried please ask for help.”

The (RCPCH) said concerns were being raised about delayed presentation among children with non-Covid related illness.

Professor Russell Viner, president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health said he was concerned by reports of a small number of recent cases in which children had become seriously unwell, or even died, because they had not been seen early enough by medics.

“During the COVID-19 crisis, parents and carers up and down the country have been doing the right thing by keeping children with minor ailments at home and, on behalf of NHS staff, we really want to thank them for their help," he said.

“We’ve recently heard reports of a small but worrying number of cases where children may have become very unwell or even died because they weren’t seen early enough.

“There could be a number of reasons for this and we’re trying to find out more but our message for parents is clear: if your child is very unwell, we want to see them – we don't want parents to wait or to worry.

“If parents are concerned and can’t get through on the phone, we want them to contact their GP or, if very worried, to go to a local urgent care centre or to A&E. Hospitals have measures in place to help protect people from Covid-19.

“We’ve relayed our concerns to the health departments across all four nations and we’re working with them to ensure that sick children receive proper care when they need it.”