Would this annoy you? - GP

[Hasbro]

Just visited our UCC with ds17. Before we left I asked if he could take his height as he hadn't been measured for about 3yrs.
Ds got on the height scale and doctor got up to read his height, "5ft 7! so not tall", he said, i responded thanks about to leave. Doctor then goes, don't worry you won't be picked for basket ball!'.

Was there really any need for this? DS has never had a problem with his height and quite happy with how he looks. We are a very petite family, I'm 5ft 1 dh 5ft 8 and would have been very surprised if my dc turned out to be 6ft.

I'm flabbergasted that in the time of so many MH issues amongst teenagers and obsessive attention to the body, a GP would come out with something crass like this. The odd thing though was that he was shorter than DS so really couldn't understand it.

Am i being oversensitive? DS has since asked me wether I think he will grow any taller? he had never bothered about this before.

No one thinks you made an appointment just to have him measured. But it was very odd, potentially super embarrassing for your SEVENTEEN year old son and not a great use of the doctor’s time. Just because you have a 5 minute appointment doesn’t mean you get to fill it with whatever you want!

It’s really not worth getting upset about. Hopefully your DS has forgotten already.

Even a doctor can put foot in mouth. It was a potentially insensitive comment to a potentially sensitive teen (who was feeling rotten) but I bet they would have been horrified that they might have upset anyone. Sometimes you have to focus on the intent, not the content

Why in the world would you ask a doctor to measure your grown up child or any child for that matter? For what purpose? No wonder it's so hard to get a doctors appointment with this kind of nonsense going on.

The 30 seconds taken will have had no affect whatsoever. Nothing wrong with getting latest height measurement for official records, particularly when there is scoliosis. The GP comment was a bit insensitive but I find mine is often like this. OP, hope ds is feeling better and nice to hear of a supportive mum.

OP, I'm sorry your ds was ill. BUT taking up time in an appointment in an URGENT care centre to measure your 17 year old son was really inappropriate. Is there a reason you went to the Urgent Care Centre rather making an appointment with your own GP in the first place?
The GP has 5 minute slots to do EVERYTHING that includes checking blood results, signing prescriptions, sending referral letters etc. It is a ridiculously short amount of time. Not to mention that for many people, their original issue can not be dealt with in 5 mins. And to those that say "it was only 1 minute/30 seconds" the trouble is by the time you multiply that by 50 or so patients the GP is easily running an hour behind.
In an urgent care centre the next person the GP saw could have been presenting with chest pain having a heart attack - those 30/60 seconds you spent measuring your son could have made a huge difference. Or there may be have been someone sat in the waiting room feeling suicidal - who may get fed up waiting and walk out and kill themselves. You just don't know.
Maybe the GP comment wasn't helpful. but tbh they probably should have just refused when you asked to measure ds and said it was not appropriate use of the Urgent Care Centre time.

Marvel - Please read the OP's thread properly.

ummm..yes I have read the thread! OP took 17 yr old son to the Urgent Care Centre because he was unwell. At the end of the appointment she asked to measure her son and was not happy with the comments the GP made about her sons height.....
Not sure what else it is that you think I haven't read? Am I missing something else?
I am simply pointing out, like many other posters, that using time in an appointment in an URGENT care centre to measure a 17 year old is really not appropriate use of nhs time. Sadly though OP does not seem to see it like this as she "only used 3 minutes" of her appointment time....
It is reasons like this that you have to wait weeks for a GP appointment and hours and hours in A&E departments.

Madness