Child patient history taking in Accident and Emergency (A&E) settings: a scoping review and framework analysis of health care professionals’ experiences

Despite the vital importance of patient history taking in the A&E process, there is very little research examining the best way of obtaining this information from children. In this article, we present a two-part study; (1) a scoping review of the current literature on this topic and (2) a qualitative interview study with health care professionals working in an A&E department in the UK (N = 11). The health care professionals concur with the published evidence in emphasizing that obtaining patient histories from children poses unique challenges that are substantially different to those found with adults, and that a fluid approach is required. Furthermore, a theme across both the studies was the identified need for specialist training in this area. We discuss the significant contribution that the substantial child forensic investigative interviewing literature could make to developing and implementing such training.