Impetigo - getting hold of antibiotic cream

[OfCourseIStillLoveYou]

My dd (3) has developed sores around her mouth which I'm pretty sure are impetigo. She's been in contact with cases at her pre-school.

Looking online I see GPs can prescribe an antibiotic cream, and that it stops being infectious after 48 hours of treatment. I'm worried that without treatment it will carry on getting worse and she'll be infectious for up to 1-2 weeks.

What is the best way to get hold of the cream? I've tried submitting a request to the GP, but they are overwhelmed at the moment and I'm sure this isn't a priority. I'm happy to pay for a private prescription but I tried Boots online pharmacy and the consultation form seemed to be designed for adults. Tried a pharmacy but they couldn't help.

Any tips gratefully received!

I think this is something for your GP, due to how infectious it is they will treat this an an urgent matter. Ring them tell them you suspect impetigo due to contact with another case and they'll see you asap.

Also in the meantime be scrupulous with hand washing, make sure your DC use paper or a separate towel (wash after every use at 60°) and if you have tea tree oil, mix a couple of drops in water wand bathe the affected area several times a day.

It's another form of Strep A so your GP should be quite willing to take a look. Do they have an econsult that will let you send a picture?

I sent a picture to the GP yesterday morning via Anima (econsult), and said I suspected impetigo due to contact with a case. They haven't come back yet. The surgery did send out a message to everyone telling us essentially not to panic about strep, strep throat doesn't need antibiotics, basically only ring us if they actually have sepsis (at which point presumably we'd be in A&E). So I'm looking for other options!
Do online chemists do private prescriptions for children?
Thank you for the tip re tea tree oil, we do have some in so I will do that. I'm also putting on sudocrem.

Oh the GP just this minute replied to say they will contact me today!

I wouldn't expect and online chemist to do a prescription for a child. However you would probably be able to get one via an online private GP. They often do video consults and can send the prescription direct to the pharmacy. I've known people to use PushDoctor and Babylon Health.

You need to phone the GP and basically demand the cream otherwise your DD risks it coming back again and again.

I've had to do this for myself in the past.

My 11 year old had it recently (she has a complex medical history and a dicky immune system) and the GP arranged oral antibiotics (which are more efficient than the cream) without seeing her, just looked at the photos and texted a code to take to the pharmacy.

Still took a week for all the sores to crust over/no new ones appearing so was advised to keep her home until they did rather than follow the 48 hour rule.

hopefully you are already sorted now

Thank you all. I made an appointment with Babylon Heath (thank you @DeathMetalMum) for this afternoon, but in the end the GP called first and issued a prescription for the antibiotic cream. They said if it was still getting worse in a few days to ring back and they would prescribe the oral antibiotics.