A mum has called for the end of text and phone G consultations for children after her daughter developed Strep A - but was initially given the wrong diagnosis in a text message. Laura Rooney has relived the horrifying moment her five-year-old daughter Farrah started to fall ill in September last year in a bid to raise awareness.
Laura, from Banbridge in County Down, Northern Ireland, said phone and text consultations should not be used to diagnose children after she was told Farrah's rash was due to antibiotics - when it was actually a Strep A infection. Farrah was ill from September through to December last year because of the Strep A bacteria, which led to her developing pneumonia in her lungs and an angry rash all over her body.
While Laura says she understands why phone consultations were introduced during Covid, and admits they may still be helpful for adults now, she said the practice of diagnosing children through the exchange of messages and pictures over the phone between a parent and GPs needs to stop.
