Patients with sore throats have been told they can get GP appointments on the same day as Strep A sweeps the UK.
Seven children in England have died amid the current outbreak, as well as one in Wales and another in Northern Ireland.
In a text, Priory Gardens Surgery, in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, has told patients who have symptoms of the potentially fatal bacterial infection they will be fast-tracked.
In the message sent out today, it said: "Following the recent Group A Streptococcal Infection increase.
"We have updated our process so you can access us same day if you are experiencing sore throat symptoms.
"Please call us if you are experiencing strep A symptoms."
The message comes as local health protection teams are told they can give antibiotics to groups of children where there has been a Strep A outbreak, according to the deputy director of the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA).
Have you been affected by this story? Let us know at webnews@mirror.co.uk
The NHS is “seeing an earlier peak than usual in terms of cases” of Strep A, said Health Secretary Steve Barclay, adding “there is no new strain”.
The latest confirmed death is five-year-old Stella-Lily McCorkindale in Northern Ireland.
The child became severely ill last week and was being treated at the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children, reports the BBC.
Parents of P1 to P3 pupils at Black Mountain Primary School were sent a letter by the Public Health Agency.
It confirmed a child had been diagnosed with a severe form of the bacterial infection.
Pupils were told the attend a clinic or see their GP to receive antibiotics.
Schools Minister Nick Gibb told Sky News this morning "it's tragic for the parents" of those children who have died.
"What the UKHSA are doing is they are working closely with the schools involved and giving very specific advice to those schools which may involve use of penicillin and so on," he said.
"They will have more advice about that and they are providing more general advice to parents which is to look out for symptoms, so sore throat, fever, high temperature and also a red or raised rash on the skin."
Local health protection teams can give antibiotics to groups of children where there has been a Strep A outbreak, the deputy director of the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has said.
Dr Colin Brown told Sky News there is "long-standing guidance" that enables health protection teams to assess the situation in schools and nurseries to consider antibiotic prophylaxis for "either a group of children in certain classes or an entire nursery school".
He reiterated there is no evidence to suggest there has been a change to the circulating strains of Strep A to make them more severe, following the deaths of at least nine children across the UK.
A child from Morelands Primary School in Waterlooville, Hampshire, was reported to have died yesterday.
The outbreak has also seen the deaths of Muhammad Ibrahim Ali, 4, in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, and Hanna Roap, 7, in Penarth, Wales.
A 12-year-old student from Lewisham, London has also died, their school confirmed yesterday, as has a primary-school aged child from north Ealing, London.
A six-year-old died in Ashford, Surrey in late November.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) confirmed last week that five children under the age of five have died in England after contracting Strep A in recent weeks, bringing the total number of confirmed deaths of children to eight.
The number could rise today as the UKHSA is expected to release more official data about the outbreak.
Two other English children under 10 also died within seven days of being diagnosed, although the dates of their deaths are currently unknown.
Meanwhile, it has been reported that there have been eight cases of severe strep disease in Scotland, but no deaths.
Responding to a question in the Commons from shadow health minister Feryal Clark, Mr Barclay told MPs: “(She) does raise an important issue and I know it is one that is concerning to many families across the country, and it’s therefore helpful to be able to just reassure the House in terms of our response on that.
“Firstly, whilst GPs are important in this, so are directors of public health and they are leading the response in areas including the liaison with schools. We are seeing an earlier peak than usual in terms of cases, these cases.
“We believe this is due to lower exposure during the pandemic which has then (meant) to lower immunity.
"There is no new strain and that I think is one of the key points in terms of reassurance, but the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has declared a national standard and that enables them to better co-ordinate our response including across schools.”
The Mirror has contacted NHS England and UKHSA for further information on GP appointments.
