Table 4.

Treatment recommendation

Treatment recommendation	Frequency (%)	Verbatim Example
Home care advice only	31 (55%)	“I think let’s see how he goes” (C220: NP) “lots of rest, lots of fluid. Calpol [child paracetamol] if he needs it … Make sure he eats and drinks plenty. He can probably go to school now” (C214: GP)
Antibiotics (immediate)	8 (14%)	“Well, she seems really well. … But, because I can hear that little noise in her chest, I’m going to give her some antibiotics because it sounds like there’s a little infection in there.” (C219: NP) “I think if the phlegm was yellowy, it’s probably worth using an antibiotic” (C213: GP) “I think he has an infection in his ear. And that might be why he’s getting the temperatures and being sick. … I think that will improve with the antibiotics for his ear.” (C205: GP)
Antibiotics (delayed)	4 (7%)	“by Monday, if she’s still having temperatures, even if she gets no more unwell in herself, then that’s gone on longer than I would expect with a viral thing, and I would want her to have antibiotics at that point.” (C205: GP) “his right ear drum is a lot more swollen and red that the left okay, which I think is where the infection’s stemming from … I wouldn’t give him antibiotics at the moment but I will give you the prescription … by tomorrow it will be more than 3 days, I would hope that … his temperature has started to come down. If not, start the antibiotics.” (C203: GP)
Steroids only	10 (18%)	“His lungs at the bottom … are slightly [wheezy] sounding, which is normally what we hear with a viral chest infection … I’m not really sure that he’s going to benefit … on antibiotics, but he might benefit from a little bit of inhaler, just to try and loosen the chest slightly.” (C207: GP)
OTC prescribed	3 (5%)	Mother: “could I possibly have a prescription for Calpol? GP: Yeah, no problem. (C201: GP) Mother: Is that alright? Just ‘cos … I haven’t brought my wallet with me this – you know.” (P11: mother)