Parents need education on when children don’t need a GP, say MPs

Two influential MPs are calling for a public awareness campaign for parents on ‘appropriate situations in which to seek care from a GP’ for their children.

House of Commons health and social care committee chair Steve Brine and education committee chair Robin Walker said that the ‘challenge of ensuring communities have access to their GP can be exacerbated if parents do not have an understanding of when it is appropriate to contact their GP regarding their child’s illness, and when to administer self-care’.

This ‘added demand on primary care’ – which is particularly bad during the winter months – could be ‘addressed in a public information campaign’, which would also ‘advise parents on when it is appropriate for children to attend school despite a minor illness’.

According to the two MPs, it would be an ‘effective use’ of the Department of Health and Social Care and the Department for Education to ‘pool their resources for this purpose’.

In a joint letter to health secretary Victoria Atkins and education secretary Gillian Keegan, Mr Brine and Mr Walker also highlighted a recent education committee report which found that there had been ‘a shift in parental attitudes surrounding sending their children to school with minor illnesses’ after the Covid pandemic.

‘Would you both be willing to endorse a joint public information campaign between the DHSC and DfE to help tackle both challenges simultaneously?’, the MPs’ letter said.

In September last year, the RCGP and the chief medical officer co-signed a letter which urged GPs to advise parents that children should not be off school for upper respiratory tract infection symptoms or anxiety in ‘most cases’.

And the RCGP approved ‘five principles to promote school attendance’ which sought to raise awareness among GPs ‘about their vital role in promoting school attendance’. 

It comes as the Pharmacy First scheme, which will allow pharmacists to consult with patients on seven common conditions instead of a GP, is due to launch this month.

Over 90% of community pharmacies have signed up to consult with patents suffering from sore throat, earache, infected insect bite, impetigo, shingles and uncomplicated urinary tract infections in women.