"Support for my son's Atopic Eczema"

My son has been diagnosed with atopic eczema since 3months old. It has been an ongoing battle to find a better way of easing his pain and suffering. My son is 21months old and I have been to every doctor in my surgery at least twice within his lifetime. He has been on various creams and nothing seemed to work. For four months, I repeatedly asked the doctors to refer my son to a dermatologist, but they ignored my requests, until my son ended up in hospital with herpes in December. But we still hadn’t seen a dermatologist. Then he had impetigo in January, but still no dermatologist. Then he got herpes again in February, and finally he would be seen by a dermatologist. It took 5 minutes for the dermatologist to tell me my son had severe eczema and he was on the wrong hydrocortisone. I had thought my fight was over and was relieved to have something good for my son, but no.

My son has a prescription for Tubifast vest and tights, I was told by various doctors they were not allowed to prescribe more then two because they cost £18 each, and I was already getting more than was allowed. I had them phone the PCT and talked to chemist and still they tried their best, but could not get any more on one prescription. I was told by the prescribing support team that if my son was in clinical need of the garments then he should be able to get them. I have been asking for seven on one prescription to last four weeks, which is four washes. They have helped my son’s skin look completely normal, it doesn’t stop the eczema being there but it stops him from scratching freely without us knowing at night time. He sleeps well now and is even acting like a terrible two year old should :-)

I am shocked that I have been fighting for these garments for almost a year now, and I had written a paper on how my son’s eczema affects him. Yesterday, I gave my paper to a lady from the Primary Care Trust. She rang this morning and said she had phoned the senior practitioner of Duncan Street surgery, Wolverhampton, and they had said yes and signed off the prescription for seven garments. I wonder how many parents with children that have eczema don’t know that there is a way to calm the eczema down to the state that it looks like it's not there, and allows there children to sleep more. The doctors have the items available but don’t seem to inform people. I believe there should be some sort a care plan in place, and I feel sorry for parents out there with no support. I need to know if there is anyone else fighting to get something better done, as I know it can be done and how I should do it, my son has suffered far to long and frankly, so have me and my partner. Please, can any one help?