New app gives parents quick and easy guidance on common childhood illnesses
From today (Monday 10th October) parents and carers across East Berkshire, Surrey Heath, Farnham and North East Hampshire have a new tool to help them deal with common childhood conditions.
The Frimley Healthier Together App provides clear, reliable advice from the NHS and is designed to be a handy guide, accessible at home or on the go.
Parents, GPs and Paediatricians designed the app, which offers an easy-to-use self-triage tool for parents and carers when they want health advice for their children.
App users go through a system of red, amber and green signs which directs them to the right place for the care of the child.
If the app suggests the child does not need professional medical care, it may still suggest self-care for minor ailments (green), that can be provided at home or via the pharmacy. In cases where urgent or emergency treatment could be required (red), the app will signpost the parent or carer to an urgent review in an Accident and Emergency Department.
For children rated as amber, the app will direct to primary care services, or NHS111 if outside normal GP practice opening hours.
Patients of GP practices that have joined the app will be able to send a message directly to their surgery with information about their child's symptoms. The aim is to encourage parents to use the app to give them greater confidence when caring for an unwell child.
Dr Alex Streeter de Diego, a GP, Paediatric Doctor and Clinical lead for Frimley Healthier Together, said: “Equipping our patients and their carers with NHS ‘traffic light’ information on how to manage common childhood illnesses helps them access the right care, at the right time and place for the symptoms their children are experiencing.
“With typical waiting times for health services currently higher than we would like, we hope the app will provide parents with an alternative way of helping to identify the support they need in a quick and easy way.
“The new app will be a boost for children, their parents and carers and will also support health services by helping to ensure the right people are being directed to the right services.”
Resources
https://frimley-healthiertogether.nhs.uk/
https://frimley-healthiertogether.nhs.uk/add-our-website-your-phones-homescreen