Tag Archives: mental health issues

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

For General Practitioners,

I featured the 2008 NICE guideline on ADHD in the February 2011 GP version of the Paediatric Pearls newsletter.  All parents of children who are being assessed for possible ADHD should be given information about local parent training/education programmes, not to insinuate that they are poor parents but in recognition of the fact that parenting skills need to be fully optimised to meet the above average parenting needs for this group of children.  Try http://www.walthamforestclass.gov.uk/familylearning/fm.aspx#parenting  for information on lots of free parenting classes provided by Waltham Forest.

Locally, ADHD is dealt with by the Child and Family Consultation Service and all referrals should go to the child psychiatrists and psychologists there please.

School refusal

Child Protection, For General Practitioners, PDF digests: for General Practitioners

School refusal is often a symptom of an underlying anxiety disorder.  The child may get anxious on separating from their primary caregiver and this manifests itself in different ways depending on the age of the child as much as anything.  There are 2 peak age groups who develop school refusal, 5-7 year olds and 11-14 year olds.  25% of school children refuse to attend school at some point in their school career but it becomes a routine problem in about 2% and the longer it goes on, the harder it is to reverse.  It is not the same as truancy.  It is not a mental illness in itself but many children who feel unable to attend school over a long period do have an underlying mental health issue.  Unfortunately funding for CAMHS is being eroded and  it is difficult to find good, and timely, help for school refusers.  The websites I have listed in December 2010 Paediatric Pearls for GPs may help give parents pointers for why it is happening and how to set about managing it.

December 2010 PDF digest for GPs now published!

For General Practitioners, PDF digests: for General Practitioners, , , ,

December’s Paediatric Pearls (GP edition) reminds us all of the NICE guideline on antibiotic prescribing in respiratory tract infections.  I would like to do a bit more of the “delayed prescribing” in the Emergency Department but it would require either the family coming back (ie. a “no antibiotic” policy really) or their putting a bottle of amoxicillin in their fridge and potentially not using it as we give out the actual antibiotic in A and E, not prescriptions.  We’ve also featured a couple of papers showing that chest x-rays add very little to the management of a child with a respiratory illness which I think most GPs know but it doesn’t harm to remind trainees still in the hospital that, just because the radiology department is at the end of the corridor, it doesn’t mean you have to use it!  We continue our 6-8 week baby check series with information on sacral dimples and I have also put in a couple of websites with sensible, empathetic information and advice on school refusal.  The beginning of term is stressful for children who find it hard to go to school and parents may find these sites helpful when trying to understand why their child is behaving in that way.  Happy New Year to you all!