Provision of care for children with medical complexity in tertiary hospitals in England: qualitative interviews with health professionals

Background: Due to medical and technological advancements, children with medical complexity are a growing population. Although previous research has identified models of care and experiences when caring for this population, the majority are the USA or Canadian based. Therefore, the aim was to identify models of care for children with medical complexity and barriers and facilitators to delivering high-quality care for this population from a ‘free at point of care’ national health service.

Method: Qualitative semistructured interviews were conducted with hospital clinicians across England and analysed using a thematic framework approach.

Results: Thirty-seven clinicians from 11 hospital sites were interviewed. In 6 of the hospital sites, there were 14 services identified. Majority of services had a variety of components, some shared and some unique to the individual service. Clinicians faced barriers and facilitators when caring for this population as demonstrated across five categories.

Conclusions: There is limited guidance and evidence on the most effective and efficient models for providing care for this population. It is not possible to determine what a service should look like as there is no consensus on the most appropriate model of care as shown in this study. Due to their complex needs, this population require coordination to ensure high standards of care. However, this was not always possible as clinicians faced barriers such as time constraints, silo thinking and a lack of available housing.