GP won’t see sick toddler in case Covid

[SupaTeddy]

My 3yo has some sort of flu bug and is vomiting clear liquid, runny nose and cough, he hasn’t eaten since Wed and is drinking very little. The bug started on Sat but eating and drinking didn’t stop till Wed. Multiple LFT tests are negative. I have the same bug.

GP said they will telephone today but won’t see him unless he has a negative PCR. That could take another day or two to get a result and I’m worried.

AIBU to think they should see a sick child regardless when he’s vomiting and not eating? What should I do if they won’t see him?

GP said they will telephone today but won’t see him unless he has a negative PCR
So are they calling you today or not?

This all that matters. Let them talk to you and advise you. If they think they absolutely need to be seen, they'll advise you to go back to A%E.

What do wrong with this?

And the child has stopped eating since Wednesday. Really not a big deal. All that needs checked is for dehydration. If the GP suspects this child will be happy and responsive in a video call, then a video call is appropriate.
My GP is doing face-to-face consultations when these are necessary. But most of what a GP sees is minor coughs, viruses, rashes, repeat prescriptions. Most of it is incredibly routine and can be done easily online.

You should have got a PCR as soon as the cough started.
You were obviously concerned enough to do the LFTs.

@SupaTeddy

The NHS website says fever, cough and loss of taste or smell. We’re coughing but no fever and we can smell and taste just fine.

I had none of those symptoms. I had a cold. A few days later I lost my taste and smell

I reckon if you called 111 they would say a&e for rehydration because of the vomiting fluid and not eating or drinking. That is the main concern here, dehydration. I think he may need to go on a drip at this point. It’s happened to my young child sooner than 2 days

Well done booking the PCR. If you call 111 they will now hopefully direct you to a set up suitable for patients with covid symptoms so your little one can be seen.

@SupaTeddy

We went to A&E last Saturday when symptoms started. They didn’t suggest a PCR. So given that the hospital doctor didn’t say to get a PCR I didn’t think it was necessary. They also never suggested it could be Covid, they just said it was “a virus”. I didn’t start to worry until he stopped eating on Wed.

You took a vomiting child to A&E on the first day of being ill??

Why?

you dont take lft with symptoms and the nhs advice is rubbish should have been updated months ago on symptoms

@SupaTeddy

OP - YABVU - I cannot believe you have not already ordered and done a covid test given your little one has symptoms for covid We don’t have Covid symptoms. Just flu symptoms. No fever or loss of smell, and only an occasional cough. Plus multiple negative LFTs.

LFTs cannot rule out covid as they aren't sensitive enough so if you have any ONE of the symptoms you take a PCR test. Why do people not understand this yet??

@Muchmorethan OP says the child's head had swollen up like a balloon. A and E gave the child anti histamine and sent him home.
Personally, I suspect a history of overreaction here.
In which case the A and E is doing a video call just to double-check its nothing, if it is the toddler will be seen in person.

@SupaTeddy

OP - YABVU - I cannot believe you have not already ordered and done a covid test given your little one has symptoms for covid We don’t have Covid symptoms. Just flu symptoms. No fever or loss of smell, and only an occasional cough. Plus multiple negative LFTs.

I didn't have any covid symptoms but I still tested positive. Please get a PCR.

Have a look at the NICE paediatric traffic lights and if he has symptoms limited to the green column then you need to provide care to you own child at home. If he falls into the amber column he should be seen by a health care professional. Therefore you can spell it out to the GP that it is that specific symptom that is your concern and insist he is seen as per NICE guidelines, but you may find the GP advises that he is seen in the red zone at the hospital. Anything in the red column straight to a&e. Children get sick frequently, and parents manage to care for them without the input of a GP the vast majority of the time.

Give him sips of fluid regularly (every 5-10 minutes), and supervise him so that it is only a sip, until you are sure he is keeping stuff down. You can even use a spare calpol syringe and give him 5-10ml of water from that at a time.

I think we all know why the government haven't updated their symptom list for Covid 19. Can you imagine if everyone had a day off work whilst they wait for a PCR test result (never mind the fact they we probably don't have the testing capacity), if they have any of the symptoms? Doctors have been shouting for literally months that the symptoms of Delta are quite different, they're basically the same as pretty much all other viral infections. It would mean anyone who has even mild symptoms of anything that looks like a headache/sore throat/cold/sickness bug/hayfever, needs to isolate whilst they wait for a PCR test. Our government are willfully ignoring the actual list of symptoms, which we now have lots of evidence for (arguably more than the continuous cough/temp/loss of taste and smell) because of the chaos it would cause. They're relying on those who can, and who are aware of the real symptoms, isolating and booking PCR tests. But they're accepting a level of spread from everyone else, because if you don't work from home and have kids, you pretty much can't isolate and get a PCR test for every symptom. Blaming the public when the government haven't updated their symptom list is a bit unreasonable, following the official advice and backing that up with LFT to be on the safer side is all some of us can do. I wouldn't be allowed to have time off work (from my essential keyworker job) for a Covid PCR test if I don't have one of the three main symptoms, I'd need to lie. I wouldn't be allowed time off work to keep my child at home while we wait for the result of a PCR test every time they have a cold either. Since they have a cold pretty much all winter long, if I had that much time off work I'd be given the boot pretty sharpish. I do wonder what kind of lives the posters who think it would be feasible for everyone to get PCR tests whenever they have one of the very long list of actual symptoms lead. Are they all WFH and childless? SAHP? Surely they can see that for lots of us, that advice they're insisting that we follow is impossible? I'm not saying that I think the current situation is the right one for controlling Covid properly, it isn't, but you need to blame the government for failing to update their symptom list, not the people taking it at face value. Instead of throwing your hands up in the air wondering why they have not updated it, just think for a moment about what it would mean if they did. It's obvious that would land them with a whole load of problems that they don't want to deal with, so they're accepting a level of Covid spread as a result. Those of us who have no choice but to be part of that spread because we need to go work otherwise the country would grind to a halt, just have suck it up and get on with it. WE didn't make that call, the government did.

@HarrietsChariot

The GP is just being cautious. If it turns out the child does have Covid, bringing him in could cause multiple staff to fall sick and may affect vulnerable patients.

In that case the GP should do a home visit. I cannot believe the way the GPs in my local area have responded to this crisis, it is absolutely appalling. I say this as a community nurse specialist who has seen first hand the complete lack of care because my service picks up the overflow.

Hi OP. Sounds like what my 2 year old has, vomiting, temperature & cough. It’s horrible. She had it for a few days then seemed to recovered and then it’s come back again! It’s very worrying when they’re so unwell, I’m just trying to get her to take sips of water. Hope his ok! & YANBU by the way, Covid isn’t the be all and end all.

I'd accept the 'phone appointment, have the PCR then see them face to face if required.

I find it very, very hard to believe an A&E doctor didn’t suggest a covid test with them symptoms

Sounds like the bug we've all just had, we all had it for 48 hours apart from my 4 year old son who couldn't shake it off. He couldn't keep water down and stopped eating. After 5 days I rang the gp who told us to go to a+e. He wasn't weeing, lifeless and had a temp. He'd started with diarrhoea too so was pretty poorly. A+e just got him to sip a drink over several hours and to wee, I don't know how he kept it down but he did so he was allowed home. As soon as he got home he threw up again. A+e just told us we had to give him food and drink offering very little very often, so when he was sick something might stay down. He finally stopped being sick after a week.

There isn't much a gp can do seeing you for a vomiting bug, I contacted ours for advise over the phone, there was no reason for the gp to see us, description of symptoms was enough. What are you wanting to be seen for? If you think they are seriously dehydrated you need to go to hospital. Our son was very poorly though and still sent home once he'd had a drink over 5 hours and a wee.

Agree, Tango. GPs seem to have abandoned their posts, and patients. It's astonishing.

@ArabellaScott they really havent

@SupaTeddy

The NHS website says fever, cough and loss of taste or smell. We’re coughing but no fever and we can smell and taste just fine.

The symptoms are not a one size fits all. You should get a Covid test on your child.

[quote julieca]@ArabellaScott they really havent[/quote]

This. Arabella your comment is so ignorant it's almost funny.

Sounds like you are jumping in the band wagon of daily mail type crap about GPs

Shame on you.

You have had nearly a week to get a PCR, LFTs are not for when symptoms are showing, PCRs are.
Unfortunately, in this current climate, a PCR will always be needed with covid like symptoms, 1, not all.
Otherwise you go in and spread it even more.

Sorry, YABU

@CarrotVan

Those are all Covid symptoms with delta, especially in children. LFTs are useless when you have symptoms. If you go to a PCR test centre now you’ll get the results in 24 hrs

Also it sounds like nasty cold/flu virus of some sort anyway. Lots of fluids, keep warm. Not much a GP can do here

That's incorrect. When I had covid (delta) the worse my symptoms were, the stronger the LFT response was.

In that case the GP should do a home visit

This is ridiculous

So if the GP goes off to every child & adult needing a home visit, this will impact on their colleagues left at the surgery and in turn, patients will not get appointments