Why are acute admissions to hospital of children under 5 years of age increasing in the UK?

Children’s use of hospital services in the UK has been increasing rapidly since the late 1990s. Findings from the latest QualityWatch report show significant increases in emergency hospital admissions for infants (23%) and young children aged 1-4 years (11%) between 2006/7 and 2015/16 (data has been adjusted for population increases in each childhood age group), whilst children over the age of 15 years showed a decrease in emergency admissions. This paper discusses some of the theories and research which provide some insight into the increase in hospital admissions for infants and children under 5 years of age in the UK