By Lisa Dowd, Sky News Correspondent
Family doctors are being urged to look out for signs of radicalisation, child trafficking and cyber-bullying in their younger patients.
GPs are being sent a 'toolkit' of information by children's charity the NSPCC and the Royal College of General Practitioners to help them make informed and confident decisions about safeguarding youngsters.
"I would like to say we never see cases of abuse but we have seen cases in the surgery recently - some have involved cyber-bullying," said Dr Trish Wildbore, from the Hazelwood Surgery in Coleshill, north Warwickshire.
"What we've found over time is the way people insult or abuse others changes with technology.
"On a recent course of lectures I went on I was horrified to find there's a child trafficking hotspot just a couple of miles from the surgery. Obviously that's quite alarming."
Further north, in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, the scale of child sexual exploitation was missed or ignored by healthcare professionals and others.
A report found at least 1,400 youngsters had been abused over a 16-year period.
While the search for victims and perpetrators has widened to other areas, so too has the definition of abuse to include forced marriage and female genital mutilation.
The long list of ailments GPs deal with is being extended to reflect other problems in a changing society.
RCGP chair Maureen Baker said: "Children and young people, today, are facing unprecedented pressures from all angles at a younger and younger age.
"The arrival of the internet and social media has opened up so many opportunities but has also brought many threats, including cyber-bullying, sexting, and revenge porn.
"Because of the anonymity offered by the internet, many children and young people run a higher risk of being harmed or exploited.
"A consultation with a GP may be the only time that young people can be alone with a trusted adult and we have a number of roles to play in providing understanding, compassion and support."
But patients have mixed views.
"I think doctors generally are already quite busy and it's already hard to try and get appointments," said Brian Griffiths, from Coleshill.
"And I'm not sure they're the right people to do this. Cyber-bullying? I'm not sure how a doctor's going to pick that up really."
But Helen Brownsword disagreed. She said: "I think it's a good thing.
"Doctors have got a heavy workload anyway but in the society we live and the things, particularly at a young age, children are into - the internet, that sort of thing - I think the more awareness we make in schools, the doctors, the better."
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