To not have to wait over an hour to get a GP appointment for my 18 month old

[MrsT84]

DD was really not herself yesterday - just kept sleeping, stumbling when she tried to walk, off food, very snotty and grisly. By the evening she had a temperature up to 39.9 using a digital ear thermometer. I gave her some calpol at 6.15pm which helped a bit, she ate a few pieces of pasta but through the night she was very restless and kept getting hotter and hotter again.

This morning she was still very under the weather - sleepy, washed out looking and just not herself. Had a small amount to drink but refused breakfast. She has also had a cough for almost 3 weeks. She has been quite rundown having had HFM and then a stomach bug. So, once I had taken my DS8 to school I got on the phone to try and get a GP appointment/ some advice for poorly DD. I rang at 8.50am and it said there was more than 30 people in the queue ahead of me, so I dialled the number to hold my place in the queue, and they would call me when my number got to the front of the queue. I am still waiting to be called now, 1.5 hours later, and I haven't even been able to tell them why I am calling yet! I haven't called the surgery in over a year but didn't realise it had got this bad!

My surgery don't allow e-consults for children, I could try 111 but am already waiting for the surgery to call me back...sorry for the rant but anything else I could try?

Sounds pretty normal to me, and your issue isn’t urgent. Just wait

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Stumbling when she walked and a temperature just shy of 40?

I probably would have taken to a&e and I’ve only ever taken my children to a&e twice in 14 years

Sorry your little one is poorly. But are you aware of the pressure the NHS is under? It is seriously under funded and under resourced. I'm not sure what you're expecting but other people are ill too. It doesn't sound serious. Sounds like a wait in the queue at most. Not ideal but there we have it.
My son has an excruciating chronic condition and we've been quoted up to a year to even get a scan. I've been forced to pay privately.
Make sure you're voting appropriately.

If you haven't heard soon I think I'd try a walk in centre if the temp is still pushing 40 and she's still visibly unwell, wobbly on a second day. That is not normal and toddlers get very ill very quickly and the threshold for seeking help is lower for s younger child. I'm in and out of a children's hospital all the time with and they would expect you to be seen as a priority with that temp and behaviour. Or try 111 or A&E depending on what is local.

Sorry your LO is unwell.

I don't think its reasonable (but unfortunately not that surprising) to have to wait that long to even speak with a receptionist.

Our GP phone lines open at 8.15. I don't know if I would even try at 8.50 because usually all appointments for the day are gone by 8.35am.

In this instance I would either try 111 or if there is a walk in gp nearby, maybe try there. After 2 days of hanging on the phone for half an hour and barely moving in the queue, earlier this year, on day 3 I took the morning off work and drove DS to a walk in centre half an hour away (instead of my gp 10 min walk away)

Welcome to tory Britain.

I would call 111.

How long do you think, realistically, it takes for the reception team to speak to more than 30 people? Likely they'll just say it's viral and keep up the Calpol anyway 🤷‍♀️ take her to a and e of she's stumbling around and as unwell as yesterday?

You said she'd had a cough for three weeks - but did the temperature only start yesterday? A high temperature by itself isn't a serious problem - unless there are complicating factors like it not coming down with calpol. Are you alternating calpol and ibuprofen? Is she showing signs of anything else like swollen painful tonsils, holding her ear like that's sore?

Most of the time a high temp in children is just something you have to ride out with supportive care - keep giving fluids, let her rest, calpol/ibuprofen. Unless it's a bacterial issue antibiotics won't help.

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/fever-in-children/

Is she stumbling because she is drowsy with the temp do you think?? I would keep going with regular calpol, add ibuprofen and get as much fluid into her as I could. A pharmacist might be able to tell you a more appropriate dose of calpol to give, the dose on the box quite often under-doses kids

Poor little thing - sorry she's unwell. Our GP is the same - it can easily take over an hour to get through first thing in the morning. However, there's a duty doctor who normally sees young children the same day, whenever you manage to get through. If you have the same and don't think she needs to be seen urgently (i.e. afternoon would be fine) then I'd hang on. But if her temperature is still high 111 might be a better bet. Hope she's on the mend soon.

Because it was always perfect before, wasn't it! Some of us have far longer memories.

it is a shit system - but what do you think they should do - a separate phone number for anyone that deems themselves more important than everyone else?

Thanks for all of your comments. I know the nhs is under pressure but it is hard when your little one is poorly and you are sat waiting in a queue. Adults can fill in an e-consult so don't technically need to ring for an appointment but you don't have that option for children. Like I say, we got through other ailments without bothering the GP but this feels different.

Anyway, a sympathetic receptionist got back to me about 5 minutes ago and went through all of DDs symptoms and she was concerned enough to get me an appointment today, at a different surgery to usual, where she will be seen by a GP.

@givemushypeasachance yes, I think something is hurting her, but I'm not sure if it's throat/ ear/ teeth. Hopefully the GP will be able to get a better look.

@Mmr224 thank you for your understanding and concern x

JudgeJ, yes I work in healthcare so I have a very good memory of how the NHS has worked over the past 20-30 years. It's never been this bad. Supporting far too many people with a government who appears to be actively trying to bring it to its knees. It's utterly devastating.

@Anotherdayanotherdollar I don't know why she is stumbling. I think tiredness and possible ear infection.

I'm glad you've got seen OP. Hope your LO pulls through.

I don't think it's entitlement to expect fully functioning healthcare. We seem to have become so accepting of low standards in this country. Hope your little one is feeling better soon OP.

YANBU OP

This is a real issue that people face every day but nothing seems to be done about it.

And then there are numerous threads about A&E being at breaking point and waiting hours for an ambulance.

There needs to be more receptionists, more nurses and more GPs.

It is time the government sorted this out.

mari who clearly knows nothing about health there 🙄.

OP, glad you have an appointment now. I'd have called 111 if the GP wasn't available. Hope she perks up soon.

I’d hope that someone with any of those ailments would call an ambulance, not a GP surgery, so it is hardly comparable.
children can deteriorate very quickly, as the OPs update has proved, she is an actual priority.

I have complained to my surgery about the e-consult thing as by the time you get through on behalf of your child the slots have been taken by adults booking online, which feels like discrimination.

Gosh, the ignorance!!

Of course a mum will be worried with a small children so clearly unwell!!

25 years ago I took my then 19 month old to the GP. A couple of days later I had to take her back again. I have never seen a child so poorly. She was so listless, it was frightening. My GP sent us straight to A&E. It was pneumonia. I have never, ever hesitated when a child had a high temp, though thankfully when mine were little, the NHS was more functional.

My sibling had a high temp with tonsillitis at 7, and fitted so badly the doctors didn't think they were going to make it, so my fears weren't exactly groundless.

@Mariposista for any of those issues you mentioned, you'd be calling an ambulance, not waiting around for a GP!!

@MrsT84 I am sure your LO will be fine but I'd absolutely get her checked out too. It's a disgrace that you have to wait like that. I avoid ringing our practice even when I need to. It's appalling.

Please pay no heed to those people lacking in comprehension and empathy. They could do with pulling their heads out of their backsides.

Best wishes x

everyone has equal right to healthcare

It’s not equal if some can book online while others are waiting in a queue though is it?