"Extremely Disappointing - a real step backwards"

I am extremely disappointed that the 'walk-in' service has now apparently been disbanded. We are now back to the bad old days of manor park surgery where you have to arrive ridiculously early and queue for an appointment on the day, with no guarantee you would be seen.

I was unaware of this and turned up at 9.15 am on Friday with my sick 5 year old daughter after taking my older daughter to school.I was told only 'emergency' appointments were available and to fill out a small slip of paper with symptoms and wait for a response.

My daughter had been suffering for 3 days with a very bad sore throat and cough which meant she was in tears and unable to eat and could only swallow water with difficulty.

After 3 days off school and no improvement, despite use of over the counter remedies, I took her to the drs to have her throat/chest checked in case she had an infection and required antibiotics.

The 'on-call' drs decision was to refer us to the pharmacy! I was dumbfounded, but did visit the pharmacist who looked in her mouth and said she had oral thrush on her tongue and we could buy an over the counter remedy.

I wasn't satisfied and asked that they look further into her throat, which they were unable to do because it was so swollen.

They then went to speak to reception and eventually we were able to get an appointment with a Dr.

They examined her and also noticed a rash, which led them to believe she may have Scarlet Fever and prescribed antibiotics.

When I mentioned the pharmacist thought it might be Oral thrush they thought this unlikely and also said 'I know we say Pharmacy first, but they aren't Doctors!'

Exactly! If this stupid system continues you stand a real chance of missing illnesses that neither parents, not pharmacists are in a position to diagnose.

Looking up Scarlet Fever, this is no longer dangerous, if treated with antibiotics, but can lead to severe complications such as Rheumatic Fever if the strep infection is left untreated.

If you must triage appointments, then you need someone to do so in person who is suitably qualified, who may spot things a lay person would not.

If I had walked away with the oral thrush meds after being told 'you can't treat a cold' my daughter could have developed complications, or at the very least, we would have spent the weekend at Lexicon House and/or A&E.

Please have some faith in parents.

We don't want to spend our time say in surgery waiting rooms with a sick child unless we feel we have no choice and have genuine concerns.

If you have sat up with your child for 3 nights listening to them crying because they can't swallow, you know this is more than a cold.

This can't be conveyed on your slip of paper.

To their credit, I have no issue with the doctors, if you can get in to see one.

I am at a loss to know why Manor Park have taken this backwards step to their service offering and can only assume this is due to financial reasons. Disgraceful.