Where to go for help?

[Covermeinsunshine]

My about to turn 8yr old recently had her sports day. This is the first sports day we’ve seen in two years due to covid.

She came last in everything. On it’s own, that’s not a problem for me, and it wasn’t a problem for her. She still smiled and enjoyed the day. Some kids just aren’t sporty, I get that.

However, her gait looked visibly awkward, with almost a kind of lameness at times. I have already been trying to get an appointment with the head of the school sports department, because I have noticed that our daughter struggles with stamina, strength and some coordination. I wanted to ask for some recommendations for apps or you tube routines I could do with her over the Summer, to try and improve things. Now I’m annoyed I’ve been getting fobbed off, and will push for the appointment this week.

Having seen her at sports day, and feeling there may be more to it than sport just not being her thing, there are a few other things that now seem relevant:

• She complains of growing pains quite a lot. They make her cry and we use pillows to raise her legs and hot water bottles to ease the discomfort.
• She complains about crossing her legs when sitting on the mat at school. She asked me to ask the teacher if she could sit straight legged. I said no, and now feel horrible.
• She struggles to kick when swimming. She has swim since she was a baby, (water babies) so her water confidence is high. She just can’t sustain the kick in crawl, so prefers to pull herself along in breast stroke.

DD is our first child, so I have no measure. However, I have seen a huge decline since last sports day for instance (2yrs ago). My gut tells me something isn’t quite right, and I’m wondering where I start trying to get an assessment? We are fortunate to have private healthcare, so wonder does anyone know of a clinic that looks at the physical development of children of that age? Or does anyone have a similar experience with their own child?

Any advice appreciated!

Could she be dyspraxic? Referred to as DCD nowadays I think. You just described my daughter but she's 16 now. She had lots of occupational therapy from being 6-10ish.
Dance classes and gymnastics helped a lot, she had no muscle strength at all.
Suggest GP in first instance with your concerns. I know the process is more complicated now for referrals though.

What has the GP said?

You go to the doctor

Our GP will not help. I’ve been registered at the surgery for 40 years, and every experience I’ve ever had there tells me not to bother. Plus any referral will take and age, and we have private health care.

I want to skip that hassle and go to a specialist for assessment. Is that just a paediatrician? Or what specialist do I search for? I was asking for others experiences, so if you don’t have any, perhaps find another thread seeking a patronising answer (heads up… no one asks for help on here wanting that)

Sports day was on Friday, so I haven’t had chance. But our GP is notorious for refusing referrals. They wouldn’t refer when the school suggested she needed a hearing test. The doctor said that schools suggest this for every 5yr old that doesn’t listen. Went private and she had glue ear.

So I’d rather use out private healthcare and find somewhere she can be assessed by a specialist.

If you’re going private, get an OT assessment.

Have you googled services in your area? If you have any other children under the age of 5 you'll still have access to HVs so maybe ask them?

OT assessment, they can look at hypermobility and other possible causes.

Could you go to a private GP and ask what they would recommend? I know the Gp wont be covered by private healthcare but it’s sometimes worth it to get the best from your private healthcare if you see what I mean.

Go to your GP and ask for a referral to a private paediatrician. They will be abl so do that easily.

Can you self-refer for physio in your area? That might be a good starting point.

Go to a different GP.

Can I ask why you are still registered with that GP? I'm in Scotland so maybe it's different, but I'm sure you can just... move?

Anyway, OT is probably what you need but dyspraxia was my first thought.

This is madness. Go to a better doctor. There are other GPs in the practice you are registered in, or other GPs in your area, or emergency GPs you can access through othe routes.

Can't believe you have no GP you can get help from, what use is the private healthcare without a doctor to advise? Go to a private GP if you want to avoid using the NHS.

It is not about being patronising but you have chosen to opt out of the normal healthc are system and now you can't access care for your child. That is not an ideal situation. I have a bog standard GP and could get help today if I needed.

tbh, I'd want to ask doctor about possible Perthes disease on that description.

No, the whole surgery are tight with referrals and they are completely under staffed. The last time I tried to get an appointment, it was a 3 week wait. No I can’t just go to another surgery, that’s not how our GPs in our area work. If I go to A&E, they will me to see my GP 🤷🏼‍♀️ You use the surgery in your catchment, end of story. I can access healthcare for my child, as I can have a video consultation with a private GP anytime (Doctor care anywhere), but I won’t need that if I know where I want to go. I was asking for experience as to where to get a referral to. I’ve had a recommendation by DM now, so will get on it tomorrow. I will get a direct referral, and can just ring my insurance company to confirm cover.

The thing is OP the GP is the perfect person to tell you where to go. Randoms on the internet are not the right people to rely on for medical advice! If you have access to a private GP I'm astonished you haven't made an appointment for your child. Vast numbers of private practices won't take patients without referrals anyway.

Not my experience of GP’s I’m afraid.

Again, sports day was Friday, so I’m not sure why you’re astonished that I haven’t already made an appointment. I can’t really class it as urgent. However, I can get a video consult with a private GP within a couple of hours if I want to call today. Not astonishing, just the way the private healthcare I’ve chosen works.

I’m not asking randomers for medical advice. I’m asking for relevant experiences and recommendations for pathways.

Do you have access to an online go with your insurance or just pay £50 and they will give you the referral. I have access to Dr Care Anywhere under Axa

My daughter sounds similar, noticed it really during lockdown, on line GP referred her under my insurance, had an MRI within a week and physio thereafter. She is hyper mobile and 'knock kneed', we've changed her shoes and she has orthotics.

Oops, ignore the first half of my post! Just do it! Your insurer will advise you on what consultants to see

Call up your private insurer and ask for a referral to a paediatrician, you may need a letter from your GP though. My 6 year old had an on going issue that wasn’t resolving and the Gp advised that an NHS peads referral would probably be rejected, so we saw someone privately. The whole thing was very quick to sort. Good luck, I hope your daughter gets the help she needs.