Children's & family medicine

Primary medical care for children and adults, including common acute illnesses, common childhood illnesses and everyday medical concerns, with treatment, follow-up and referral where appropriate.

The doctor checks your child's temperature, breathing, heart rate and oxygen level against what is normal for their age, and looks in the ears and throat. Most childhood fevers are caused by viruses and get better on their own.

Antibiotics are prescribed only when a bacterial infection, such as some ear or throat infections, is likely. Fever medicine doses are worked out by your child's weight, and you leave knowing what to watch for and when to come back.

The doctor checks how dehydrated your child is by looking at their weight, skin, mouth, eyes and how much urine they are passing. Where useful, your child can be given small sips of oral rehydration solution at the clinic to see whether they keep it down.

Babies and young infants can become dehydrated quickly, so they are referred to hospital early if they are not drinking well.

During a wheezing episode, the doctor checks your child's breathing and oxygen level and gives reliever medicine through a spacer, with a mask for younger children, or a nebuliser where needed. Your child is reassessed before going home. A child with severe breathing difficulty is transferred to hospital.

For children with asthma or repeated wheeze, the doctor can go through how to use the inhaler and spacer and give you a written action plan for what to do when symptoms start.

Most childhood rashes are harmless and caused by viruses. The doctor examines the rash and checks for signs of a more serious infection.

For eczema, treatment usually includes moisturisers and, during flare-ups, medicated creams, with advice on daily skin care. Impetigo and other skin infections may need an antibiotic cream or medicine.

The doctor examines the injury and, for cuts, cleans the wound and closes it with skin glue, adhesive strips or stitches, using local anaesthetic and pain relief to keep your child comfortable. A parent can usually stay with the child.

We do not sedate children at the clinic. If a wound is large or complex, or a child cannot keep still safely, we refer you to a children's emergency department.

Some problems need more time than a walk-in visit allows. A booked review gives the doctor time to look at the whole picture, such as childhood constipation or symptoms that keep coming back, rather than giving another short course of medicine.

The doctor can also check your child's growth and development for their age, go through how to give medicines correctly, and arrange follow-up when it is clinically needed. Children who need further assessment are referred to a paediatrician or child development service.