The letter by Thomas Weatherby1 comes close to a legal ruling following the tragedy of a child who went on to develop herpes encephalitis after an eye infection. Sticky eyes in babies are common. Red eyes and photophobias (eye not opening) are rare. The point I would like to make is that in the lawsuit one of the failings was lack of safety netting (or documented safety netting) after the child was first seen in hospital. Though the ‘case’ was some years ago and safety netting is practised much more now, as is the need to document this advice even more so, it is still worth re-enforcing the point. As GPs, most things we see run a benign course, but a tiny, unpredictable minority won’t so in ALL consultations this safety netting needs to be specific, shared, and documented.
- © British Journal of General Practice 2021
