• A COUPLE of weeks ago I had to attend an I:HUB out-of-hours service for my 15-month-old daughter, who was unwell.

As a parent, I am very grateful to have this service in the evenings and at weekends. The doctor we saw gave my daughter a quick check, diagnosed tonsillitis, and on the basis of that prescribed a 10-day course of antibiotics.

The NHS website makes it clear that antibiotics are not recommended for tonsillitis, and as my daughter was getting better without any medication, I decided to wait and go to my GP for a second opinion.

She confirmed my suspicion that the antibiotics were probably not needed. A swab was taken, which a few days later showed that the infection was viral. It worries me that antibiotics are being prescribed unnecessarily for children.

I’ve recently noticed an advertising campaign warning the public of the dangers of taking antibiotics when they are not needed. Perhaps this money would have been better spent helping GPs to provide more accurate diagnoses and prescriptions.

A MOTHER
(Name and address supplied)