Fever or high temperature in children of any age can be very worrying and tiring time. The sleepless nights, taking time off work, waiting to see a doctor all takes its toll on all dedicated mums and dads.
Fortunately, you can obtain expert healthcare advice 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with these online or mobile app tools.
The mobile apps and online tools can make it easier to decide when to call for emergency assistance, when to consult a healthcare professional or when it's appropriate to care for your child safely at home.
This can hopefully help you avoid or minimise long waits in A&E when it's not necessary.
If in any doubt about what to do call 111 or call 999 for life threatening emergencies.
*NHS 111, 999 and A&E are available 24/7
Out of hours GP services are available when your GP is closed i.e. in the evenings, overnight and all day during weekends and bank holidays
For opening times for your local Pharmacy - check Google or NHS.UK*
The two apps, below have been created by Doctors, in this case Paediatricians, to help you care for your child when they are unwell.
Handi paediatric app
For children aged: 0-16
Cost: Free to use
For children of all ages including newborn
HANDi was developed by the paediatric team at Musgrove Park Hospital to provide expert support to parents/carers looking after children with the most common childhood illnesses:
Diarrhoea
Chesty child (wheeze and asthma)
Chesty baby (bronchiolitis)
High temperature (Fever)
Abdominal pain
Common newborn problems
The app which is simple to use includes
A symptom checker for parents and carers to use
Advice on the appropriate local healthcare setting to use
or a home care plan to help parent/carers provide the best support for their child.
Provide information on the illness
It’s easy and simple to use.
As one reviewer wrote on the Google Play store review,
‘Great for the 2am I'm too tired to think like a normal human and i can't call anyone! Tbf I'd have probably used in the daytime too. An excellent resource. Thankyou.’
When you start to use the app it will ask you to select the relevant NHS trust that is relevant to where you live.
BUT if you do not live in those areas simply select any of the trusts and you can use the app to use the symptom checker and obtain relevant medical advice.
If you do not live in those areas you also won’t be able to use all of the benefits of the app e.g. You can not use the app to directly connect to your local services e.g your registered GP. But this isn't a problem; it simply means you will have to contact your local services by phone or online as you would without the app.
You can use the app to call NHS 111 or you can just dial 111 on your handset.
The information uses NICE guidelines and other evidence based clinical guideline
The reviews on both the App store and Google Play have been mixed and appear to mainly be related to technical issues or that people do not live in the areas where the NHS Trusts are based. The app scores 77% on Orcha.
CATCH app
For children aged 0-5
Cost: Free to use
CATCH (Common Approach to Child Health) is not just for acute illness; the app provides information on a range of issues related to childhood development such as potty training, First Aid and illness. It doesn't have a symptom checker but you can find guidance on emergencies and also which type of healthcare service you need to access.
The app is for children between 0-5 and similar to the Handi Paediatric app, you can only connect directly with local services if your local clinical commissioning group has commissioned/paid for it.
BUT you can still use the app to get really useful information.
Orcha gave the app a score of 79%.
The app has score 5* on both Google Play (based on 15 reviews) and App Store (based on 10 reviews).
NHS111: Online symptom checker
For children aged 5+ (and adults)
Cost: Free to use
Available online, web browser and NHS app
The NHS online symptom checker can be used for children aged 5 or above.
Therefore for children under 5 years of age, dial 111 to speak to a healthcare professional.
NHS111: Online Coronavirus symptom checker
For children aged 5+ (and adults)
Cost: Free to use
Available online, web browser and NHS app
The NHS 111 online coronavirus symptom checker can be used for children aged 5 or above.
Therefore for children under 5 years of age, dial 111 to speak to a healthcare professional.
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