We know parents don’t always feel confident about caring for their child at home and seeking advice before they visit a GP or health service. That means that a high number of anxious parents, especially of children aged under 5, will often walk into A&E - even when they know it’s not the right place to go as their child’s condition is not life-threatening or an emergency.
With help from local clinicians, we’ve put together a handy advice sheet*. It provides parents with top tips on the most common minor illnesses and injuries as well as advice on what medicines you should have at home to treat an unwell child. There’s also information on what services (other than A&E) they can get advice and help from.
The CCGs are working with local partners to share the information with parents across the three boroughs. We hope GP practices can help by making the leaflet available to download from their practice websites and, if possible, providing printed copies to parents and carers they think would find the information helpful.
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