Worried about your child?

• It is extremely scary if your child has any sort of breathing difficulty. Use your instincts; if your child appears well and their breathing difficultly improves after a short period, there is normally no need to worry.
• Wheeze is extremely common in young children and is most often triggered by a viral infection. Most pre-school children with wheeze do not have asthma.
• Children under 2 years of age with breathing difficulty may have bronchilitis. This is an extremely common condition that usually starts as a runny nose and cough but their breathing may get worse over the next 2-3 days.
• If your child is struggling to breath, they need to be urgently seen by a medical practitioner and are likely to need treatment. If your child has croup (hoarse voice, barking cough, noisy breathing), they will also need to be seen by a medical practitioner.
• Most chest infections are caused by viruses and do not usually need treatment with antibiotics.

• If it is non-urgent, speak to your local pharmacist or health visitor.
• If your child has any of the above features, urgently see your GP. For an urgent out-of-hours GP appointment, call NHS 111.
• You should only call 999 or go your nearest A&E department in critical or life threatening situations.

For wear and tear, minor trips and everything in between.

You can treat your child's very minor illnesses and injuries at home.

Some illnesses can be treated in your own home with support and advice from the services listed when required, using the recommended medicines and getting plenty of rest.

Sound advice

Children can recover from illness quickly but also can become more poorly quickly; it is important to seek further advice if a child's condition gets worse.

Pharmacists are experts in many aspects of healthcare and can offer advice on a wide range of long-term conditions and common illnesses such as coughs, colds and stomach upsets. You don’t need an appointment and many have private consultation areas, so they are a good first port of call. Your pharmacist will say if you need further medical attention.

Sound advice

1. Visit a pharmacy if your child is ill, but does not need to see a GP.
2. Remember that if your child's condition gets worse, you should seek further medical advice immediately.
3. Help your child to understand - watch this video with them about going to the pharmacy.

Health visitors are nurses or midwives who are passionate about promoting healthy lifestyles and preventing illness through the delivery of the Healthy Child Programme. They work with you through your pregnancy up until your child is ready to start school.

Health Visitors can also make referrals for you to other health professionals for example hearing or vision concerns or to the Community Paediatricians or to the child and adolescent mental health services.

Contact them by phoning your Health Visitor Team or local Children’s Centre.

Sound advice

Health visitors also provide advice, support and guidance in caring for your child, including:

School nurses care for children and young people, aged 5-19, and their families, to ensure their health needs are supported within their school and community. They work closely with education staff and other agencies to support parents, carers and the children and young people, with physical and/or emotional health needs.

Contacting the School Nurse

Primary and secondary schools have an allocated school nurse – telephone your child’s school to ask for the contact details of your named school nurse.

There is also a specialist nurse who works with families who choose to educate their children at home.

Sound advice

Before your child starts school your health visitor will meet with the school nursing team to transfer their care to the school nursing service. The school nursing team consists of a school nursing lead, specialist public health practitioners and school health staff nurses.

They all have a role in preventing disease and promoting health and wellbeing, by:-

• encouraging healthier lifestyles
• offering immunisations
• giving information, advice and support to children, young people and their families
• supporting children with complex health needs

Each member of the team has links with many other professionals who also work with children including community paediatricians, child and adolescent mental health teams, health visitors and speech and language therapists. The school health nursing service also forms part of the multi-agency services for children, young people and families where there are child protection or safeguarding issues.

If you’re not sure which NHS service you need, call 111. An adviser will ask you questions to assess your symptoms and then give you the advice you need, or direct you straightaway to the best service for you in your area.

Sound advice

Use NHS 111 if you are unsure what to do next, have any questions about a condition or treatment or require information about local health services.