This petition comes from a place of great personal loss. My nephew, Hudson, tragically passed away at just 2 years old due to a misdiagnosis over a phone consultation with a GP. Most parents, like me, believe in the value of face-to-face consultations in diagnosing issues for our young children. Though telemedicine has grown in recent times, it should not replace in-person check-ups, especially for children aged below five years. According to the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, young children’s conditions can often be misinterpreted over the phone or video (RCPCH, Yearly Report, 2020). We, therefore, urge a change in regulations to make it a legal obligation for GPs to see children under 5 years old in person. It's a much-needed move to ensure the safety and well-being of our children.

Hudson became unwell so his parents contacted the 111 service for advice , they advised to keep trying to get fluids into him and that it sounded like gastroenteritis and if he didn't start to pick up that they should call back.

Hudson began to decline and so his parents contacted 111 again ,they advised to keep doing what they were doing however if he was still no better that they could attend an appointment at the local hospital later that day. 

Hudson began to rapidly become worse and they decided that they couldnt wait until the allocated appointment time and took him straight there. After being seen he was transferred straight away by rapid response blue light ambulance, where he suffered two cardiac arrests and sadly shortly after he passed away.

Following a post mortem after his death Hudson was found to of had a twist in bowel which had caused his bowel to die and lead to his other organs failing.

Hudson was 2 and a half years old and couldn't tell us what was wrong with him.

We feel that a child under 5 years old should automatically be seen by a medical professional instead of being diagnosed over the phone.

As parents we know when our child is not right and as a duty of care and a child's right they are entitled to be seen whether it may be something minor or in Hudsons case, much more serious.

We want to change the regulations for GP's to automatically see children under 5 to help prevent other families from going through the heart ache our family has over the loss of our beautiful little Hudson, he was our whole world and without him our world is a very dark place.

 Please sign this petition to prevent the pain of misdiagnosis and protect our precious young ones.