I am retired from Family Medical practice now but drug representatives were by far the most prevalent force of dissemination of information and persuasion to prescribe drugs.
Patients also demanded antibiotics - especially anxious parents for their children. Children's infections' symptoms can affect a child's wellness and behaviour very quickly. We made it policy to always have emergency spaces for children in our consulting offices. This helped alleviate parents' and our anxieties. It also offered a better opportunity to detect those rare cases of meningococcal meningitis which could escalate from first symptoms to death in days.
So difficult as it is, accessibility to health professionals is important in reducing the use of antibiotics and, I believe, patients' access to acute disease portals which make the patient record available with links to quality assured information about the signs, symptoms examination findings, tests, diagnoses, alleviating and curative treatments. (Paracetamol, cooling, adequate fluid, collegiate [*], antibiotics, when prescribed appropriately, cure.)
R
HIFA profile: Richard Fitton is a retired family doctor - GP, British Medical Association. Professional interests: Health literacy, patient partnership of trust and implementation of healthcare with professionals, family and public involvement in the prevention of modern lifestyle diseases, patients using access to professional records to overcome confidentiality barriers to care, patients as part of the policing of the use of their patient data
Email address: richardpeterfitton7 AT gmail.com
[*Note from HIFA moderator (Neil PW): Thanks Richard, I think you this refers to the Collegiate website 'The latest advice and recommendations regarding coronavirus (COVID-19)':
https://www.collegiate-ac.com/student-news/the-latest-advice-and-recomme... ]
