From now on, parents of children who need a specific medication while in childcare in Flanders will no longer need a separate doctor's certificate to get it, announced the Agency for Growing Up (Agentschap Opgroeien).
After consultations with the general practitioners' association Domus Medica and the professional association of paediatricians, the Agency for Growing Up announced that a label from the pharmacist with the prescribing doctor's details and how the medicine should be administered will suffice.
Until this decision, parents always had to present a specific doctor's certificate if their child needed a particular medicine during childcare hours. As a result, many parents had to book an extra appointment with the general practitioner just to obtain the certificate.
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"When the pharmacist's label on the packaging of the medicine states the name of the prescribing doctor, it is actually clear that the treatment was approved. Often, the duration or end date of a treatment is also mentioned on the label, allowing the pharmacist to know how long they are allowed to administer a medicine," said Niels Heselmans, spokesperson for Agency Growing Up.
"An additional doctor's certificate specifically for the pharmacist is therefore now no longer necessary." If the doctor's name is missing from the label, parents can request a new label through the pharmacy.
