Child suffering - no doctor's appointments

[cofingalthetime]

So a friend's little boy aged 3 had a cold that hasn't gotten better - he has a chesty cough, and his eyes are very very sore with green gunk - obviously conjunctivitis. She just cannot get a doctor's appointment. Last night she rang 111 and they said they would send an ambulance, but it would take 6 hours so she took him to A&E but after 5 hours, without even seeing a triage nurse, she brought him home again. On the phone to the doc again this morning, and no appointments. I've just seen the little boy - he's totally listless lying on the sofa, his eyes glued together, breathing sounds awful and his cough is terrible. He just needs some antibiotics? She tried the pharmacist but he would only give her a cough medicine. My friend herself sounds terrible, with an awful cough and she looks terrible, I think she has a chest infection. This must be being duplicated across the whole country - I can imagine people ending up in hospital with pneumonia because they couldnt see a doctor. What should she do... I said maybe go to the surgery with the child so they can see how sick he is...?

She waited in a&e for 5 hours and then left without seeing anyone? That was daft! The lack of GP appointments is dreadful but it sounds like she will need to take him back to a&e.

If he is honestly that bad then she is silly and a little selfish for leaving A&E.
I would 100% take him back if GP won't see him

Go back to A&E if the child is listless. Do not leave until seen.

If 111 thought it was worthy of an ambulance (even a low priority one) then I think she should have stuck it out in A&E.

She should ring 111 again during GP opening hours - they can make GPs issue an emergency face to face appointment, especially for a child.

Yeah I think she should have stayed in a&e. She got scared as a couple next to her with a baby were seen just before she left and when they came back they said after you're seen in triage they were advised it was anohter 4 hours to be seen - IF no other emergencies came in in the meantime. I said to take him back to a&e this morning but she said it's not fair on the kid, he is too sick. Does anyone think it's terrible we can't get a gp appointment... I guess I'm lucky to be healthy and not need a gp, and so are my kids, but god help us if any of us get ill.

If your child is sick enough to attend A&E why would you leave?

Is there a minor injuries unit nearby?

She needs to call her GP surgery again.

We had the same a few weeks back, tried for 3 days to get a GP appointment but the surgery literally didn't have a doctor in all week.

In the end the surgery gave us an appointment with a Paramedic Practitioner who checked my DD over and arranged for a prescription to be writen up.

Is there a walk in centre or an urgent care centre?
could she pay for a gp phone appointment through push doctor or similar.

She just needs to get back on the phone to 111 or take the child to the gp surgery and kick up a fuss and demand to be seen. I was recently in a gp surgery when a man very politely demanded to be seen and eventually the receptionist admitted they'd had 4 no shows that morning so there was a gp available!

He needs to go back to A&E if he’s that unwell. If that’s the wait, that’s the wait and he can’t be too ill unfortunately. Take a blanket and a pillow for her to sit on and snuggle up in the corner with a podcast and some snacks. It’s far far from ideal and the Tories have eroded any healthcare system we have but needs must. She can’t sit at home doing nothing because he’s too ill it’s nonsensical.

She should be stayed at A and E and she she take him back of he's listless and has breathing difficulties.

Back to 111 they might be able to make an appointment for the evening. Our out of hours does appointment 6-12 at night and 6-9am plus weekends. Otherwise A and E take drinks/ snacks, blanket they can snuggle with.

Can you do push doctor for children privately?

She rang 111 again and they are organising a doctor appointment.

@stargirl1701 the child has been sick for 2 weeks, and she's been doing all this. I've had eye infections myself and they need antibiotics or antibiotic eye drops to clear it properly, or else it keeps coming back which is exactly what has happened here. I mean is this not why antibiotics were invented - to prevent suffering - why shoudl the child suffer and suffer, when a simple course of antibiotics will clear up his chest and eye infection. It's not right to leave a child suffer that long.

I hope you are not a health professional . Eye infection, struggling to beeathe, coughing and listless and all he needs is a bit of a rest. What a ridiculous and potentially dangerous piece of "advice"

Not according to NHS advice.

I think we have all forgotten what being I'll means.

Your friend is neglecting her child by leaving the hospital which could have provided her child with IV antibiotics, nebulizers and what ever else their child needed.

She needs to decide if she wants her child to stay home and deteriorate where there are no health professionals or she takes her child to hospital where there is health professionals and equipment that could save their listless child's life.

Antibiotics take a few hours to prescribe, collect, digest and get into the system and that would be if the gp decided it was needed. The child your describing doesn't sound like they have that amount of time on their hands.

To clarify, if her child was so unwell that the admin at 111 thought they needed emergency care, they would not be advising to just arrange a little GP appointment.

Purely regarding the conjunctivitis- you can get the antibiotic drops over the counter from a pharmacy for a child over 2.

What NHS advice as younrefeering to please

If this were my child I would take him to the GP and very politely say I would sit and wait to be seen.
I worked in NHS dentistry for long enough and we would always see people if they were urgent on a sit and wait basis.
Doctors must do the same as caring professionals. Covid seemed to be an excuse for hiding but we can’t allow that any more.

Conjunctivitis https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/conjunctivitis/

Cough https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/baby/health/colds-coughs-and-ear-infections-in-children/

Poorly child https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/baby/health/looking-after-a-sick-child/

The child in question is over 3 years old.

The mother obviously isn't that worried or else she would have stayed at A&E.

Antibiotics won't help unless it's bacterial anyhow, and they rarely give drops for conjunctivitis at the doctor now, but you can get them over the counter.

Did you read that the child is listless and is having difficulty in breathing.