We need to know about ALL of your child's medicines

For your child's safety, we need to know about ALL of the medicines they have been taking. There is a risk of unexpected problems if we don't know about all of the medicines that your child is taking. Please tell the doctors or nurses about all of your child's medicines, even if they forget to ask you. This includes;

• Medicines prescribed by the hospital
• Medicines prescribed by another doctor (maybe your GP)
• Medicines bought without a prescription from health food shops, pharmacies, supermarkets naturopaths or other health care practitioners
• Any complementary or alternative medicines ("natural remedies")

Some medicines (including complementary and alternative medicines) are known to interact with conventional medicines or affect anaesthesia or surgery. We need to assess this on an individual basis so it is important we know ALL the medicines your child is taking.

Please tell the doctor, nurse or pharmacist this information when you come to hospital so that there is no chance of giving medicines that might affect anaesthesia and/or surgery.

What are complementary alternative medicines?

Complementary alternative medicines (CAMs) are sometimes called “natural remedies” and include: high dose vitamins, minerals, herbal therapies, tonics, aromatherapy, and homeopathic medicines. They are also sometimes known as "traditional" or "alternative" medicines. They are being widely used in Australia and overseas.

Our responsibilities

• To ask you about all of your child’s medicines
• To advise you about the safety of all medicines

Your responsibilities 

• To tell us about all of your child’s medicines
• To give all medicines to the nurses to safely store them so that other children on the ward cannot get hold of them