General practice
This is the mainstay of good medical care for your child and family. There may be one doctor working alone (solo practitioner) or several doctors may have combined to form a group practice. The general practice will have complete medical records for your child (as well as yourself), and the practitioner will be likely to have built a trusting relationship with your family over the years. He will be aware of the local networks of other health care providers, such as maternal and child health nurses and specialists.
Locums
These are doctors who work after hours or during periods when your usual doctor is unavailable. If they are working out of the practice, they will have access to the medical records. If they work for one of the locum services, it is most unlikely that they will have available any previous medical records. Sometimes they will provide a record of the home visit to your regular doctor the next day. Ask your doctor what kind of locum support he uses.
24 hours clinics
While these clinics are often convenient, they are usually staffed by doctors on a casual or short-term basis, so do not provide the continuity of care that a general practice can offer.
Community health centre
These almost always offer a range of health professionals, although not all of them employ doctors. They claim to have a more preventive and ‘whole family’ approach to health care, although a good GP will also take this approach.
Telephone consultations
Often parents call their doctor or the local hospital to obtain information or advice. You need to be aware that it is often difficult for a doctor or nurse to provide appropriate advice over the phone. He or she can only give general advice and information — there is no substitute for actually seeing the child. If you have real concerns, then you should consider taking the child to be seen rather than relying on telephone advice.
Chemist
The pharmacist is a professional who can provide advice for reasonably simple and straightforward complaints. You should remember that they do not have any specific medical training. It is unfair to put the pharmacist in the position of having to diagnose and suggest treatment for a medical condition — you are better off seeing your doctor.
Hospitals
Hospitals vary greatly in the facilities and expertise they offer, according to their size and location. Children’s hospitals naturally offer the whole range of paediatric care; small community hospitals, on the other hand, may have no specific paediatric facilities or equipment, or staff with paediatric training. It is often a good idea to find out exactly what facilities your local hospital offers, rather than wait until you have an emergency.
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