To think the hospital should have prescribed calpol for my baby?

[PleaseLeaveVictor]

Ds3 is 9 months old and was admitted to hospital for the 2nd time on Monday in the last few weeks. He has a nasty chest infection, oral thrush, ear infection, tonsillitis and a viral wheeze. He was admitted via our walk in centre as his sats were very low.

Fortunately after nebulisers and inhalers he was ok and we were able to being him home with a prescription for thrush medicine and inhalers. We were told to give him dioralyte as he has diarreah and was a bit dehydrated and paracetamol for pain relief.

I had used the last of our calpol just before we had for to the doctors so I asked if we could have a prescription to get some more. I had spent over £10 on a taxi to the hospital as there were no transfers available and needed to spend the same amount to get back and I didn't have any spare money with me nor in the bank as I am broke until Friday.

I was told they wouldn't prescribe paracetamol or dioralyte as they were available to buy in boots (over £3 each) I did explain that I didn't have enough money and just got a shrug and a sigh. They eventually wrote a prescription for one sachet if dioralyte but not the paracetamol.

I could have used the taxi money to buy some but didn't want to take a sick baby on 4 buses in the dark, he was only wearing shorts and t shirt as we hasn't expected to be sent to hospital.

I called my mum and asked her to get me some medicine for him and luckily she could.

Should the doctor have prescribed pain reliefs and dioralyte?

I've had a google and the pharamcy first minor ailments scheme appears to be still running in England - it definitely is in my East Lancashire area. Not sure if nationwide or just 'deprived' areas.

You need to get a card from your GP and then can get all sorts of over the counter medication for children for free if you need.

OP well worth checking with your GP surgery/local pharamcy if they participate.

What a crazy world we live in - the OP can't get a script for calpol for a sick child on the NHS but the Health Select Committee have recommended that PIP implants be removed and replaced by the NHS

Every patients circumstance is different. In the case of the OP, I think calpol (or the generic brand) should have been prescribed.

Different if someone was doing this all the time, but it was a one off for the OP.

It just seems so wrong that its such a postcode lottery. Some parts of the UK can get it for free in any circumstances but others can't.

YANBU, they should have prescribed it. We have a system here locally where i live in Scotland although im sure it must be available nationally where you register with your chemist (im registered with lloyds chemist) and they can prescribe certain medicines for free without going to your gp such as cold sore cream, calpol (or the cheap alternative), nit lotion etc. I can remember what it is called but i shall try and remember.

OP I hope you child is feeling better, he must have been miserable but try living here in Ireland where its ?50-60 to see the GP (up to ?70 for out of hours doc, ?100 for A&E) and then we have to pay extortionate prices for any prescribed meds :( . Bottle of Calpol is around ?7 here btw

Liquid paracetamol is free at your local chemist along with a host of other widely prescribed items under the Care at the Chemist scheme.

It takes 5 mins to register your child and then you qualify. Id get this done if its a big issue for you so that you are covered for any future need.

When my DD was admitted with tonsilitus they discharged her with antibiotics (obv), ibuprofen and calpol plus 3 syringes to administer with.

so I would have been shocked if they told me now that i had to buy it - its the same as when my nan when into hospital and was told to take paracetamol for the pain for the next few weeks. they didn't tell her to buy it, they gave her a prescription. And whenever Ive been in (twice with suspected appendicitus sp?) they discharge me with a couple of boxes of paracetamol and one of tramadol. So YANBU!!

My GP will never give me a prescription for any of the stuff we can buy over the counter, not just for the kids but for us too. However, he does know our family circumstances and therefore knows that we can well afford to buy our own. Makes me wonder what would happen if things were different though.

I do think they should have given it in your case - you explained the situation an you weren't taking the pee.

You'd be surprised what GPs WILL prescribe though - I worked as a Doctors receptionist for a year or so and we had people in wanting all sorts, including a pregnant woman who guzzled Gaviscon like there was no tomorrow and was always in asking for a script for it. The Doctor in question got so fed up that in the end he told her to buy her own!

yanbu, given the circumstances. in similar circs we would always be sent away with a bottle of calpol or ibuprofen to tide us over. gp has also prescribed dioralyte when DS has had a tummy bug, to be sure we had some in case he needed it. I guess economically it's a lot cheaper than an A & E trip or further GP appointment?

I think it's prudent to have a large stock of OTC medicines for usual childhood ailments in your cupboard at all times, and that would include paracetamol and rehydration sachets. However in some circs I think drs should prescribe them. you explained your situation and the dr should have been sympathetic.
I think Kal has been given rather a hard time over the adult para business! It has been common practise for tablets to be prescribed, dissolved in water and some discarded. We did this for many years. However our PCT recently changed their policy as they believe it is dangerously inaccurate and we now have everything in liquid form. Until a year or so ago I would have thought Kal's advice was ok as it was what doctors told us to do...

I see someone else has mentioned the Care at Chemist Scheme too. I think this is the same one I referred to:)

i have had calpol from hospital before, not even a prescription, the nurse took it out of the cupboard and gave it to me there and then.

Ive just tried googling care at chemist scheme and can't find anything for my area although money saving expert says its a national service. I searched under 'care at chemist ' 'care at chemist ' 'care at chemist registrations' and couldn't find a local I've or how to sign up I am using a phone to google and post though so maybe I am not looking properly.

I had an email saying I had a pm too but I can't read it as I'm using my phone please don't think I am being rude and ignoring you

www.nhs.uk/Livewell/Pharmacy/Pages/Commonconditions.aspx at bottom of page minor ailment scheme you can search your area

if link doesnt work google minor ailment scheme

Our doctors has a sign saying they wont prescribe medicines/lotions that can be bought OTC, it simply costs them too much.

I think there's a bit of confusion over using Paracetamol tablets for children.

The 'form' of the medication doesn't make any difference. It will still be metabolised whether the tablet is whole, crushed, mixed with something or added to liquid.

So, if your child needs 250mg of Paracetamol, and you have a 500mg scored tablet, you are quite able to cut the tablet in half, crush the half-tablet and mix it with a little Jam, say. That is perfectly safe and cheap; just as effective as suspension.

Crushing a paracetamol tablet and adding it to a small amount of squash can be as effective, but of course, you have to be sure that all of the squash you added the tablet to is swallowed, and often you would need to then swill out the cup with some more liquid and make sure that is swallowed to. The likelihood is that you're more likely to underdose with this method. So, not dangerous, but not as effective as giving a suspension.

However, if you crush a tablet and mix it with cold water, it is very unlikely that the crushed tablet will be suspended evenly in the water (ie. a suspension). For a start, it's very hard to make the crushings totally uniform with (for example) two spoons. Even if you have a proper pill crusher, they don't perform miracles. The crushings tend to gravitate to the bottom of the dish, and then when you suck it up you will get some 'mostly water' some 'half-and-half' and some 'mostly crushings'. You run the risk of overdosing or underdosing, and the worse thing is that you just won't know which has happened.

Remembering that Paracetamol is very toxic at even moderately elevated doses, and that the smaller a child is, the higher the proportional overdose would be (ie. a 500mg tablet added to 5mls water is 100mg/ml. A dose of 200mg instead of 100mg is double the dose; the equivalent of an adult taking 4 tablets instead of 2). The risk really isn't worth taking unless you have no choice.

Also, some tablets are not water soluble. When I worked in a NICU, there were some medications that only came in capsule form. To give them through an NG tube, we had to spilt the capsule and add the granules to apple juice to dissolve them.

Liquid suspension is available precisely because paracetamol tablets are not suitable for young children.

Sorry to hear of your situation OP. I hope your son will be okay.

They were BU; but my sister and all her friends take their DC for completely unnecessary GP visits for every little thing (every bloody TOOTH) in order to get free Calpol. This costs a bomb as well as wasting time and making it extremely difficult for people in need to be seen. Same old, some irresponsible people spoiling things for everyone else

YANBU hospitals normally do provide paracetamol suspension for the course of the treatment. If the trust cannot afford this they should have at least given you 24 hours worth to get you through.

Hope your DS is feeling better soon poor thing x

Yanbu. We have the minor ailments scheme here and any time either of mine have been seen by a doctor at either the surgery or hospital for anything, they usually ask if you have any calpol at home. We normally have some but I get the impression they would give you a prescription if you didn't.

YANBU, in the past we have been given bottles of baby paracetamol, without us asking for them, and we're reasonably well-off financially, certainly didn't need to be given them free. I'd have thought any health professional, when asked, would have had the compassion to help out in that small way. We were also given free piriton, emollients, all sorts of things.

We used to live in Scotland, and I think that things up North were much less tightly constrained. Since we've lived in England there have been a lot less freebies, and we've had to 'fight' harder for referrals etc. E.g. DD has severe food allergies, in Scotland she had regular testing, a paediatrician, dietician etc. When we moved South we really had to plead for continuation of service, we were told there's no money for it.

YANBU to think that under your circumstances they could have prescribed/provided you with a bottle of children's painkillers to take home with you, luckily I have not been in a position to need it but a friend's DD was prescribed liquid paracetamol for an illness which was very mild compared to what your DS has. Some of the comments to KalSkirata have been overly harsh but IMO it was a bit daft of her to blithely state that you can crush adult medication and give it in liquid to a child without qualifying that statement by saying that her DD has exceptional medical circumstances and it's necessary in her case, which she went on to do in later posts.

The thing that amazes me about this thread is how much paracetamol people give to their children.

I would never buy calpol just in case my child became ill in the night. It could sit in the cupboard for a year, not be used and go off. If somebody was ill in the night, unless it was serious, I'd just leave it until the morning and see if they improved, not start giving them medicine for an illness that was only just starting up.

As for the advice to buy a big bottle as it is cheaper, I have never finished a bottle of calpol.

As for the OP, YANBU. I have bought calpol, and been prescribed both child paracetamol and ibuprofen by both the hospital and the GP. DS was prescribed paracetamol in suspension last week for a minor illness, and he is 13. I agree with LG; whether or not a medicine is available over the counter or not should have nothing to do with it being provided to a child for free. All that should matter is if the doctor thinks it is medically necessary; if it is, it should be available free to the child.

SeaHouses - if my child is in pain, I give a dose of painkiller. Just as if I have a sore throat I take a couple of paracetamol. Why would I want to wait to relieve my child's pain? I am aware that studies have shown that, statistically, children who are given regular doses of painkiller are more likely to develop certain conditions such as asthma, but no-one can tell whether the link is causal.