navigating the NHS, GP’s and pediatricians!

[Omama0330]

Hello all!

I recently moved to London with my almost 2 year old…anyone care to share how to navigate the NHS to get him his annual check up and immunizations and such….?

In the states I just took him to his pediatrician but I can’t seem to figure out if toddlers/children need a GP to refer them to a pediatrician or do we just make an appt with a pediatrician?

Any and all help is welcome!

You just need to register him with your local doctors surgery. We don't see dedicated paediatricians. You will then be notified of when he requires his latest immunisations. Usually by letter.

Yes I read that letters are sent for immunization and such, but he has no medicinal record in the UK whatsoever, will all of that be kickstarted after I register him with a GP?

And as for GP’s, are there specific ones just for children or does the same Doc that sees adults also see young toddlers?

Just registering will mean you will receive a letter or text asking you to book in for immunisations as and when they are needed. The next one would be at 3years and 3 months for the pre school booster. If you have any info of what immunisations he has already had that would probably be good to give to the GP surgery incase there are any we offer in the UK that he's hasn't had.

Also there is no such thing as an "annual check up", children only get seen by a GP when needed. Health Visitors check on them in addition. If you contact Health Visitor service they should advise when your little one should be seen depending on age. In my area, HVs work within GP surgeries and you should get contact no to them through your GP surgery, but not sure if it's the same in your area, ask your surgery perhaps.

To see a paediatrician you need a referral from your GP or in an emergency, you go to Paediatrics A&E at your local hospital.

Register at a gp practice and ask to see them or a health visitor to review your dc. The vaccination schedule may differ to US, these are often done by a nurse, and you won't see a NHS paediatrician unless there is a specific issue requiring a gp referral. Otherwise you can pay privately for a paediatrician or private Gp appointment,

You might find some GPs at your local surgery have particular interest in paediatrics and they tend to see the little ones more frequently, but this varies between surgeries of course. Worth asking.

You just see a GP, so my 8 month old, 5 year old, DH and I all see the same GP. There are three I the practice and we could see any of them. Take along your child’s immunisation records when you register them. They don’t see the GP on an annual basis here, they are the nurse for vaccinations and the health visitor at regular intervals to check on development. Health visitors are nurses or midwives who work on the community.

I moved from the US when my eldest was 3, it’s a very different system! Probably much more hands off than you’re used to.

You need to register with the local GP. You will provide his US medical records for them to add to their system. They see adults and kids. Paediatricians only get involved via referral if there’s a health issue, healthy kids never see one.

You’ll get letters about immunisations, these will be carried out by the nurse, his next will likely be the preschool boosters at 3 years 4 months. However, it won’t include chickenpox since that isn’t on the schedule here so presuming he is currently half vaccinated, having had the MMRV at 12 months as per the CDC schedule, I’d make arrangements to get his second shot done ASAP as chickenpox outbreaks are pretty common at nursery (daycare). I’d usually recommend a pharmacy for this e.g. Boots but I don’t know if they’ll do a single shot so you may need to find a private GP, I can recommend one if you’re SW that is familiar with CDC schedules.

He’ll also get assigned a health visitor (specialist nurse for under 5s) who can do things like annual reviews but they can be a bit patchy so I wouldn’t expect a lot, but if you did want to contact them the GP’s surgery will be able to give the number for the team in your borough.

Thank you all for your help! It definitely is quite different from the U.S.!

Have you got his med records from the US? If not start there get them and when you both register with a local GP they’ll upload his files to his record should be fairly easy.

as for an an annual review this doesn’t really happen here. You can ask but due to demand they could say know. There’s always private GP services that may do this for you.

On the subject of medical records, if he’s in daycare and your state does the child health examination form, then that’s fine to give to the British GP when you register.

You definitely need a GP. I'm a paediatrician, and I have absolutely zero involvement in arranging routine immunisations. Wouldn't know where to start. Though I'm pretty good if you're child has sepsis, or acute severe asthma, or is born preterm... We do the stuff that requires more specific expertise than the GP has. Most routine stuff is GPs. And for routine stuff they're probably rather better than us because they see more of it, whereas we see the more complex cases.