GP displaying family photos, children's pictures dedicated to 'daddy' or 'mummy'

What?!

Now you're backtracking. Your original post stated the GP's office is "Not about the gp’s comfort or wellbeing." Now suddenly you're expressing concern about the GP's safety, which is very much part of their well-being. So which is it?

@Ilovepastaforteahow do you know how fertile the GP is?

YABU - or your friend is.

As PP have said, it's not unreasonable to be upset at reminders of things you can't have/do/might not have/do...

But that is for friend to deal with and come to terms with, not for other people to manage for her.

I will never walk usefully again, will never live without pain, I will almost certainly not see pension age ... if I went around miserable and upset because other people can and will, my life would be infinitely shitter. I cannot expect people around me to edit out the bits of life that they can do, that I can't.

It is totally normal for those with their own office space to have some personal items, family photos, kids drawings etc up!

Lots of assumptions made there and you are detracting from the topic in hand.As a manager I wouldn’t object to it, but what is there should be carefully thought out and not over done. There are also professional boundaries to consider to keep the GP themselves safe. You obviously do not have a background in healthcare to understand the complexities of the patient doctor interface.

You are demanding that a person's work environment where they spend, in the case of many GPs, 60 hours a week be "a blank slate, dedicated solely to the patient. Not about the gp’s comfort or wellbeing." That is not professional, that is robotic.

You the patient might spend 10 minutes there every few months/years but the person who spends all day there isn't allowed a nice photo to help them through a stressful day?? I really hope you are never in any sort of management role, you would be the boss from hell.

I am GC as they come but I wouldn't recognise a trans flag. I expect there are GP surgery rules about displays?

I don't think MN should apologise for having mums on it, or seeing the world through "mum eyes". But pretty certain the wider public would have the same view.

Afraid I just don't care what overworked GPs display unless it's sexual or violent.
Most posters seem to agree.

Hmm I don’t think this thread is really proof of that. Mumsnet tend to have limited sympathy for this type of sensitivity. I bet if it were a series of trans flags on display the responses would be VERY different 😆

Chat GPT might be more reliable to be honest. Plus being professional doesn’t equate to being a robot.

Afraid I just don't care what overworked GPs display unless it's sexual or violent.

Most posters seem to agree. Not just a storm in a teacup but a tornado in a thimble, this post.

I dont insist that others conceal their healthy kids from me

Of course not. Nothing to do with the point at all. We were talking about appropriate décor in a clinical consulting room.

A friend of mine for a start - she says they have "funny eyes" !

And they do !

I disagree. There are many things I don't have. One of my DCs has a chronic disease. I dont insist that others conceal their healthy kids from me.

Ok but one tiny Ganesha idol is very different to this :

Several school photos, photos of them on Disney holiday, camping etc. Also hand drawn pictures from the children annotated 'I love you daddy'.
Not just one on the desk or screen saver which would be a different matter. My friend said they were everywhere

This is a clinical consulting room that should be accessible and comfortable for patients from the widest diversity of backgrounds. It's not a personal office.

Obviously being able to get a face to face appointment is crucial as well.

Given what you've been through it's understandable, but respectfully I think YABU.

A friend who is a GP had lots of fertility issues and eventually adopted. I'm pretty sure she has photos of her (adopted) children in her room. Is that okay as long as she displays a sign saying they're not biologically hers?

Imagine this country ever needing to go to war……..we are f’d

You don't know what journey he's been through, they could be IVF kids, from donors, adopted. Would it be insensitive to wear a wedding ring knowing lots of people can't find a partner or are widowed?

From what I’ve seen, even at a fertility clinic there may be posters with babies on, thank you cards from parents who have been supported to have children, pregnant women etc. You can’t shelter yourself away from anything that might trigger you, you need to be resilient enough to accept that some people have things that you don’t.

I am more concerned that I can't get a face to face apppointment.
My last GP had a tiny Ganesha idol on her desk. Didn't bother me.

If you want a robot to diagnose you, ask chatgpt. If you want to see an actual human, then let them be human.

Who doesn't like goats?

Who’s to say the GP didn’t have trouble conceiving those children? It also humanises him in what can be a clinical/scary setting for some people.

It's not a private workspace. It's a clinical consulting room!!

Again - how would you feel if they put up particular personal cultural or religious symbolism?

I agree absolutely it’s advertising,it doesn’t increase anyone’s chances of success.

It can be false hope though. These displays represent years even decades of successful treatments and can give a misleading impression of how successful the clinic actually is.