Scarlet Fever? No out of hours appointments

[crisscrosscringle]

Posting for traffic. Sorry, I know that is unreasonable. DD is five and has a sore throat, high temperature and a very spotty tongue. There have been cases of SF at school.

Waited on phone to 111 for an hour to be referred to out of hours service. Out of our service called back to say they have no appointments and that someone will call after 8am. DD is uncomfortable but very drowsy - she is currently sleeping.

All the advice says swift access to antibiotics is key to avoiding complications. I'm not normally one to get overly anxious or get scared by the media but I'm really worried another 12 hours before anyone even calls us is dangerous.

WIBU to just take her to A&E?

You might want to tell my DD's school that. If they have suspected scarlet fever they have to get the all clear from a doctor or antibiotics to be allowed to go to school.

That’s 100% standard response and what the exclusion period for scarlet fever is. 24 hours on antibiotics after diagnosis then they can return to school.

OP while you wait, see if you can get a private online GP appointment videocall on your phone, should be approx £50. They can prescribe via email and tell you where nearest 24 hr pharmacy is.

Some of the advice here is fucking dangerous and you shouldn't be posting it. A young child who is difficult to rouse, temperature (which we don't have information on re: whether it's coming down with paracetamol), spotty tongue, known contact with SF cases.

You are utterly unqualified to tell this op that she has nothing to worry about or is wasting a&e time.

Utterly irresponsible.

My LO was diagnosed with SF on Friday. I took her to GP Thursday as she had all the obvious symptoms- only for it to be disMissed as 'just a virus'! The rash got much worse by Friday, so I demanded she get seen again. Thankfully by a different GP who agreed it was SF and have some meds. Both GPs I saw, totally contradicted each other with their opinions, and generally used Google to diagnose! It's no wonder the SF cases are rising as they genuinely didn't seem to have a clue!!
OP trust your gut, and if you are concerned go to A&E (just expect a long wait!). Hope your LO is better soon

@crisscrosscringle i understand why its highly contagious so yes they don't want suspected child going in spreading it about. antibiotics help protect from any further problems but yes it can clear on its own. Personally I wouldn't wait In a&e unless my child was really ill with it if he seemed OK in himself I'd wait for a gp appointment and get the antibiotics to prevent other health issues.

and tell you where nearest 24 hr pharmacy is.
Lol I was curious about this, I've just googled and found that the nearest one to us is a "midnight pharmacy" with 24hr collection point (automated, not manned)... And it's 131 miles away 😂even going directly to the boots website as an alternative option to a Google search results in "there are no 24hr services in your area" when you search. Not sure of the mile limitation on their search tool.

I'm betting most of Not London is in the same boat.

Yes take her to a&e. My granddaughter aged 2 was like this yesterday. 111 were taking at least an hour to talk to. They had quite a wait at a&e as lots and lots of other children there with similar symptoms. Eventually seen by our GP coincidentally ( local gps doing extra shifts at our hospital to help out) and diagnosed with throat infection which could lead to Strep A. Given antibiotics and today she had perked up considerably.

Did you manage to get seen? I hope you didn't end up being there all night ?

You poor things, we have been through scarlet fever twice but 10 years ago and both times the kids ended up in A&E because they got very ill during the appearance of the rash.

The person who said it isn't an accident or emergency is wrong unfortunately.

My son is really unwell at the moment, and if the AB's haven't kicked in by this morning then we'll probably end up in A&E because I doubt we'll get a GP appointment - although I will try!

We got home with antibiotics at 5am!

That's a nightmare 7-8 hours in A&E!

We were seen in the urgent treatment centre this weekend and this morning on the phone to the nurse practitioner.

Some place are absolutely dire. We have been bloody lucky.

I hope the meds kick in soon.

NO-ONE IN THE UK SHOULD HAVE TO DO THIS - least of all a sick child.