Stop demanding antibiotics for children with conjunctivitis, royal college tells schools

An estimated 160 000 appointments a year could be freed up at UK general practices if schools stopped sending home children with infective conjunctivitis, the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) has said.

The college said that some schools were acting against clinical guidance by refusing to admit children with the condition unless they had a prescription for antibiotics.

As part of national self care week, the RCGP has written to schools regulator OFSTED to ask that nurseries, pre-schools, and other childcare providers re-think policies that were unintentionally “clogging …