To think this should have been picked up sooner?

I do not think people should be getting at the OP - how was she to know the pharmacist, the surgery and 111 were getting it wrong? They are there to provide sound advice and failed to do so. All of them should have known that a quinsey can be life-threatening and should have erred on the side of caution. It is not up to OP or her DD to know that.

I hope she is now on the mend.

Shame on those people making nasty remarks.
If tonsillitis is bacterial, of course she must be treated.
These box tickers relying on algorithms are downright dangerous.
My pulmonary embolism was ignored because it was only a 6% possibility.
I do hope your daughter is feeling much better soon.

Quinsy is life threatening. That’s the point. The abscess can block the airway.

Quinsy is a serious complication and can become life-threatening, unless said human has a spare airway to hand.

It's easy to look back on things with hindsight, OP. It might be worth feeding back to the pharmacist etc what the diagnosis was, I would want to know if someone I had advised developed a complication.

The NHS describes it as an emergency as it is potentially life threatening.

Your post is medical disinformation.

I would expect the pharmacist the GP and 111 to be aware of quinsy yes.

There was a very sad case recently where a young man died as the 999 algorithm would not allow whatever the higher priority ambulance is.

I would be speaking the the pharmacy and the GP to see if lessons can be learned fully expecting them to deflect and ignore you (sadly that’s my experience of care being poor and opportunities being missed).

The way you treated your DD is how the worst doctors treat patients with anxiety - assuming everything is anxiety.

Not sure why you’re getting such a hard time here OP.

Our GPs are massively snowed under and our EDs are packed out 24/7. That’s why people are encouraged to attend a pharmacy with sore throats etc, and pharmacists are supposed to be able to identify those that need further treatment. Pus on the tonsils appears as white spots and is an indication for antibiotics so once the pharmacist had correctly identified this and if they were unable to prescribe them (some pharmacists are prescribers) then they should have referred your dd on. It’s a fuck up.

Well done to her for continuing to seek medical attention, I hope she feels better soon.

Quinsy can be fatal if the swollen tissue blocks the airway. That's why it's treated as a medical emergency and the ENT doctor was waiting at hospital to treat OP's daughter upon arrival. So it is a "big deal".

YANBU OP. The same thing happened to me, although 111 arranged an emergency GP appointment for me, and the GP did not diagnose it correctly and gave me a dose of low level antibiotics, which were wholly inadequate.

Later that day I went to A&E because it was becoming unbearable, and the triage nurse insinuated that I was wasting his time because I had already seen a GP earlier that day.

I opened my mouth so he could see the swelling. He immediately knew what it was but did not apologise to me for suggesting I'd wasted his time. He actually called his trainee nurses into the room so that they could see the swelling and told them this was Quinsy and what to look out for.

I was sent straight through to the ENT doctor, who drained the abscess and said I had come in in the nick of time and therefore wouldn't need to be admitted. But if I'd left it any longer, it would have been a medical emergency.

So glad your daughter has been seen and treated OP and I'm sorry that you had this experience.

God help you if you struggle with mental illness and become physically unwell. It's difficult to be taken seriously by anyone, including the medical profession. Especially if you're a woman. The potential delays in treatment can have serious consequences.

Glad your daughter's okay.

She also told them she'd not eaten in 48 hours as she couldn't swallow but was managing small sips of liquid with difficulty

Regardless of any other symptoms she had that you didn't realise the significance of, not eating for 2 days and not being able to drink properly is a potential medical emergency.

Did that not occur to you?

Agree with PP that you're feeling guilty and trying to deflect responsibility. I hope she improves quickly.

Yabu. She should have went to a&e first if she was feeling so bad. The pharmacist is medically competent as a pharmacist not a consultant.

My daughter is 18 too.
Must have been going around.

She was very sick for the bones of a week.

This is really upsetting to hear. As the exact thing happened to me. From the pharmacy to gp appointment. I ended up quite unwell in hospital for a few days on iv antibiotics and something else I can't remember which. Wish your dd a quick recovery x

18yo ds at uni had the same symptoms. Pharmacist gave him same reply and spray, plus advice to call 111 if swelling got worse. It did. But in his case 111 sent ds to OOH where he was examined and given given antibiotics.

Viral tonsillitis may not be treated with meds, but bacterial is. And you cannot differentiate between them over the phone.

My daughter had this a month ago.
Even I, a complete non medic, knows white spots indicates an infection, which i double checked on google, rang our doctor, whom confirmed it.
She sent a prescription through for me to collect.

This is appalling and you need to go back and report it to them.

This is very very basic.

I saw the white spots using the phone light in her mouth.

Hi op unfortunately the nhs just fob people off now. dr appointments need booking at 8am ridiculous if you get sick after this time. I would go the walk in first. I would be grateful the walk in did there job properly and go to them in future. Pharmacies have limited experience on few issues. 111 can take forever to get you heard.

Yes that's quite poor. 111 will often triage certain things which are likely to be no complex that a pharmacist can provide advice/treatment for. But if they identify it as complex they are meant to send you back to 111.

Had this with my child's ear infection. 111 sent us to pharmacist. She had one look and said it's a complex ear infection and beyond my remit. So back to 111 and got a doctor's appointment, then a prescription. That's how it should work.

White stuff on tonsils needed escalation beyond painkillers.

Well no. It was discovered by an ENT specialist. Which means the others who saw it were not specialist enough to diagnose this condition. They don't have the knowledge, the equipment or the authority to do so.

If someone presents with swollen tonsils and keeps mentioning tonsillitis, that is what will be taken as the condition. Until a specialist has a chance to look at it. They did all say to escalate it if it got worse. Which you did.

Same as a GP or 111 or pharmacist couldn't diagnose a lump as cancerous.

This isn’t necessarily correct. You can have white spots from a viral infection.

There’s no point in torturing yourself. A lesson to be learned here. It’s a shame she experienced this as it will make her worry if it happens again.
I went through similar with my son when he had a broken arm and was in pain the whole night. And was sent home from hospital. When we went back to hospital the following day his X-ray the bone in his wrist was broken in several places. And required surgery with K wires. It didn’t show in first X-ray as there was too much swelling.
I try to act on my instinct now. Hope your daughter recovers and is ok.

Of course the pharmacist should know about quinsy. It's not a rare infection. Telling someone there's "white stuff" on their tonsils is perhaps indicative of the poor quality of education that's taking place on these courses. Someone with a masters degree shouldn't be this sloppy. They should also know about complications and direct them to the hospital. I knew all this as a second year student nurse.