But Gold Coast doctors are worried the push to deliver cut-price care has the potential for misdiagnosis and lawsuits.

Gold Coast Medical Association president Stephen Withers slammed the move, saying lives could be put at risk just to save a few dollars.

He said every patient was different and even mild symptoms could mean a very serious condition.

“Are we looking to deliver 21st Century medicine, or some kind of cut-price medicine where we say we know what best standard of care is but we’ve decided not to provide that to you,” he said.

“Doctors need to make a careful assessment of every case they see, because having one rule that tries to fit everybody can lead to terrible trouble.

In a decision that will be confronting for mothers whose children are screaming with pain from an ear infection, the review recommends against routine use of antibiotics in kids aged 2-12.

Royal Australian College of General Practitioners president, Dr Frank Jones, said parents should use paracetamol or ibuprofen to control ear infection pain.

Parents are also likely to baulk at a recommendation by the Australian College of Nursing not to give kids paracetamol or ibuprofen to bring down a temperature.

“The benefits of fever in slowing the growth and replication of bacteria and viruses are well documented,” says the Australian College of Nursing.

One in 14 kids has side effects from antibiotics and their overuse is fuelling the rise of resistant infections.

Medical colleges are also calling for a stop to X-rays of most foot and ankle injuries while the review found routine CT scans for some cancers and appendicitis could be dangerous, delivering unnecessary radiation.

They warned some people could die from complications in routine colonoscopies.

Gold Coast General Practice president Dr Roger Halliwell said sometimes there was no evidence to support what was being done.

“It’s what’s popular, over what’s proven,” he said.

“Certainly for GPs who are often the meat in the sandwich, there’s a pressure to do things not because it’s good medicine but because someone else said it’s good idea, so this takes that pressure off.”

Upper Coomera mum Sue Toms said reduced tests would be a great outcome for her six-year-old daughter Zara, who has cystic fibrosis and has been in and out of hospital since she was just two weeks old.

The campaign also calls for doctors to think twice about ordering thyroid ultrasounds, ultrasounds for groin hernias, endoscopies for gastric band patients and imaging for non-specific low back pain.

Palliative care, rather than expensive intensive care solutions, should be used as people come to the end of their life, the review found.

Gold Coast Health is the only hospital in Queensland taking part in the campaign, starting in the pathology department to determine what tests might not be necessary.

Kristy Hayes, service director of infectious disease and immunology, said they wanted to make sure tests were appropriate.

“It’s about value, not volume,” she said.

“Doing more tests doesn’t necessarily mean we’re getting a better result or indication.”