Why do we?

[Pipsqueak]

Ok a question that was posed in Uni last week.

Why do we collect GP details.
Its rare that we would take a child to the GP and its even rarer that the GP would actually discuss with us even with parent permission.

If we had to take child to hospital - that information can be easily and quickly found anyway
And hospital will treat as they see fit in the absence of parents.

So exactly why do we collect that information, yes its a way to 'track' a child perhaps. Do we collect just because its on the sheets?

[ajs]

because ofsted told me to

[Pipsqueak]

because ofsted told me to

good answer AJ! lol
but did they!

[ajs]

good answer AJ! lol
but did they!

ok well it's because it was on the ncma contact sheets i bought many many many years ago way before ofsted even existed

[sweets]

its the seeking emergency treatment that i wonder about. im sorry but even if a parent wouldnt sign for that permission and a child had a serious accident with me that needed an ambulance or needed taking to hosp i would do it anyway! permission or not, i think anyone would wouldn't they?

[The Juggler]

i always wonder this when I'm asked for GP details by the school or for school trips, scout trips etc. I'm just thinking if something happened, they're gonna call me, or go to hospital. They are not gonna call the GP and make an appointment to take my child in

strange - bureacracy. I think it is mainly for hospitals so if we take the child in and the hospital ask for the GP name (so they can forward the records I assume) we can give it. But in all honesty they could just hang on until the parent arrives and get those details. I don't think them forwarding details of the hospital treatment is going to be a priority until at least after the child is discharged.

[tashaleee]

I think I collect it because it was on my original information form, even though I now use my own forms I still have it on there. Not sure if it is on the MM forms as mine were originally NCMA.

Why do I still do it - ummmmm well as I guess its not compulsary Im nosey and like to know which parents I might bump into at my surgery

In all seriousness I have been asked to take a mindee to GP as parent was working (yes I refused) - just seems to be standard practice to ask GP details I guess....

[curlycathy]

I phoned on behalf of a parent once to get mindee an emergency appointment and arranged to meet dad there (altho he was late so receptionist had to phone mum to get permission for me to take him in to see GP - luckily dad turned up!!). It was easier cos I knew straight away which GP to phone (OK I admit we are in a village with only one surgery lol!!!)

But then if ever we did have to call an ambulance - God forbid - it is a question they would ask and whilst they could find out the information it saves time if we can answer it.

Plus I'm nosey and want to know everything about everybody

[ajs]

i had to call nhs direct when a mindee was having an asthma attack and without that information they wouldn't have even spoken to me
so i am glad thta i had it to hand on that day

[Pipsqueak]

i had to call nhs direct when a mindee was having an asthma attack and without that information they wouldn't have even spoken to me
so i am glad thta i had it to hand on that day

so that is a good purpose interesting info -thanks AJ

[crazyhazy]

i had to call nhs direct when a mindee was having an asthma attack and without that information they wouldn't have even spoken to me
so i am glad thta i had it to hand on that day

Really? I find that odd, we're in scotland so nhs24 instead but find it hard to believe they would refuse to help, I suppose it would leave you with no alternative but to dial 999.

[Pipsqueak]

Really? I find that odd, we're in scotland so nhs24 instead but find it hard to believe they would refuse to help, I suppose it would leave you with no alternative but to dial 999.

they refused to advise me over the phone for my own son! all because he wasn't directly next to me and was in bed asleep - I was gobsmacked.

[Erika]

I don't know why but perhaps computer failure? I only say this because I remember a time when I collapsed in the street during a time when I had a bacterial infection. The bloke who found me came to hospital with me and stayed by my bedside. Obviously he didn't know me from adam, he had just found me in the street. They got my identity off a card I carried around in my bag which had my details, next of kin details and GP details.

I later found out from the bloke - who incidentally became a good friend of mine, that there was a glitch in the computer system and they couldn't access my records, they needed to give me intravenous antibiotics and needed to know if I had, had antibiotics before and whether I was allergic to penicillin. The guy didn't know me and my next of kin wasn't answering the phone so they contacted my GP by phone and asked for the records to be called up so that they could determine if it was safe to treat me with intravenous antibiotics.

[Blaze]

So that medical records can be checked if need be - nowawdays it's being computerised (just had a letter from our Dr's about this), but whilst it's being done & even when it's done it's so that medical history can be accessed if neccessary.

[nokidshere]

Because if you have to call 999 for any reason its one of the first things the paramedics ask!

[miffy]

Because if you're ever admitted to hospital, need an ambulance etc it's one of the first things they will ask you for in case they need to check your medical history.

Miffy xx

[suzyblue]

I think aslo that in the 'olden days' before mobile phones it wasnt so easy to contact parents. I had a boy that was bitten by another which drew blood. I phoned the docs (no nhs direct) and they would only advise me if I was phoning the surgery where he was registered.

[carol cameron]

Blaze is exactly right . it's so medical records can be accessed even if the parent is not present and doctors/nurses can make informed decisions about necessary treatment.

[rickysmiths]

Long before Ofsted, I had to take a child to see their GP regarding a possible abuse. I was sent by the Health Visitor who had Child Protection responsibility and the GP then spoke to her.
The GP did not discuss anything with me. It turned out to be something completely different and she was able to reassure me that it wasn't anything serious. As a result I had a conversation with the parent as to why they hadn't filled in all the details on the Childs Info Form which would have saved a lot of heartache, the parent just laughed and thought the whole thing was a joke.

I and then the doctor hadn't been able to contact the parents which was why I was asked to take the child to thier GP (also mine as it happened) to be examined. If I hadn't had the parents consent to seek emergency medical help I wouldn't have been able to go through the process. I wouldn't have been able to take the child to the doctor because it wasn't a life and death situation.

I must say it is the one time in my childminding career that I have felt utterly alone, no cm groups then and I didn't know any other cms well, it was quite a scary few hours. I was so glad I was able to go to the GP and one who knew me as well.

I have in the past taken children for their injections so it was helpful to have the GPs address!

As for needing the info on Scout forms, I have had experience of that as well. A child we had at Camp once who was accident prone to say the least had 3 accidents of varying degree in one weekend. The last one she cut herself quite badly falling off a bench and we decided to take her to A and E. We called the parents, we were only 10 miles from home, and they said there was no need for them to meet us at the hospital they were sure we would deal with it fine We had to give GP details so a report of the accident and treatment could be sent to her GP.