to want to take my pushchair into my doctors surgery?

[gillquil]

my g.p surgery has just banned pushchairs, I've them a letter that follows, is this the norm? or should I just change our G.P.?

Hello,

I would like to make a complaint about the forthcoming ban on pushchairs in the surgery from the first of April. I am a mother of three, my eldest child has just turned four and we have a double pushchair which we normally use for our two youngest. My youngest child has just turned one, and as is typical for his age, he wants to crawl and climb all the time, he definitely doesn?t want to sit on my lap while I wait, he will however normally wait happily in his pushchair, or sleep in it while we wait or during our appointments. My two year old daughter just wants to run around.

If I am unable to bring my pushchair into the surgery I am going to have to let my son crawl over the floor in the surgery which I can?t imagine being the most hygienic thing to do. Or when he is asleep I will have to wake him, and what if both he and his sister are sleeping? do I really want to wait for my appointment struggling with a sobbing two year old daughter and a crying one year old son, my handbag, and changing bag on the floor or on the seat next to me. All of which, toddler, and baby and baggage have to then be carried into the appointment. I would also like to know what is suggested for mothers who need for example to have their young child with them during say a smear test? Should I leave him to crawl around the floor in the surgery during this?

Parents that I know often rely on being able to entertain a young child or children in a pushchair so that they can speak to their G.P. or nurse for a few minutes uninterrupted. Or the child sleeps on through their appointment and waiting time, and the parent can have a proper conversation or treatment.
I don?t have the option of arranging childcare for the times when I need to come to the surgery, especially as we normally ring at 8 a.m to see what appointment we can get if any for that morning.

I asked about the security of the area that has been designated for pushchairs to be left. As far as the lady I spoke to knew, there is none, it seems that the surgery is relying on the area being ?out of sight.? I disagree anyone walking past will be able to see a row of unsecured pushchairs. Pushchairs cost as I am sure you know an enormous amount of money. We live close by and two of my neighbours have had pushchairs stolen from outside their own front doors in the last six months, and we had a child?s scooter taken ourselves. It was suggested also that I buy a bicycle style lock for our chair, but I can?t see what I would secure it to.

While I can see the need for some sort solution to the congestion in the waiting room, as a result of parents and children who are patients at XXX Surgery using pushchairs, I don?t feel that just telling people their only option is to leave their pushchairs outside, in an unsecured area, and carry in their child or children and changing bags, handbags and who knows even their shopping, is acceptable. In fact I think it?s discriminatory. I have spoken to several mothers today who are patients at XXX, as are their children, and they all agree, and have said they will be putting forward their comments also.

I look forward to your reply and hope that XXX can be a bit more creative in finding a solution that doesn?t leave patients feeling unwelcome.

Really? I think I may have heard it all now...

why is that.

Turnip, why should people who have invisible disabilities, or mh problems gave to divulge personal sensitive medical information to a non medically trained receptionist?

turniphead I don't understand your post. It's fundamental isn't it that your medical conditions remain confidential. You may wish to disclose them to get extra help but you shouldn't have to. Medical services should just be accessible.

Perhaps this all wasn't an issue when drs routinely did home visits. I recall our dr coming to the house quite frequently and perhaps that was OTT but these days it's almost impossible to get a home visit for those who struggle to get out of the house. I am a single parent with two small children at home and you can't drive to our hospital (central London so nowhere to park). When my son was terribly ill one night and I feared there was something very wrong I asked for a home visit I was told I wasn't housebound so didn't qualify. Being at home alone with an 8mo baby and a 3 year old at 4am did not count. So I carried my 3 yo and my baby out into the street to find a taxi (you can't park at our central London hospital). I don't think that is reasonable. These are the unexpected consequences of building our health service without taking into account the different ways that people will need to use it.

sorry to repeat about the parking

margoandjerry - I agree. Primary health care is poor.

How has it happened that doctors used to be able to attend patients at home but now they don't? Are there fewer doctors?

There was a new contract negotiated some years back that changed the home visit service that had to be offered. Years ago now and don't know details sorry.

cremeeggs, what is your agenda? do you work at a health centre?
how old are your kids (if you have them)?
your posts are riddled with assumptions about things parents can do, children can be asked to to, parents can buy, etc. (and facilities at GP surgeries) these assumptions might make you feel shit when you are broke, managing on very basic kit, have a screamer / vomiter, can't make your life flow like mothers you see all around you with matchy matchy stuff and angel babies... and imagine being sick as well, perhaps should get anti-b's before the weekend, but getting to the surgery, and then dealing with being in it, is going to be another struggling walk of sweaty screamy shame.
you sound like you work in "the system" so I think you need to get an imagination and think things through. please.

don't forget perfectly well functioning mothers with perfectly well functioning babies are the people who need the doctor least.

yy of course it should just be accessable

but while we make do with badly planned health centres, and they have to be safe, which they aren't if there's people PLUS a load of buggies because the waiting rooms weren't planned by people with enough sense to consider who would be using them, then it is what it is for now.

So really what we should all be doing is finding out where new practices are being planned in our areas and getting in there with the buggy issue before they're actually built! and S.P.E.L.L. it out to them because they are clueless! (again- treatment rooms on the second floor of the NEW PURPOSE BUILT health centre here! well done! really!)

Its getting very silly now-Cremeggs-seriously not everyone has a travel system maybe because we don't all have cars, so shall we all go out and buy one?-+somes only fit in these infant sits until 9months so what then?
You cant have a smear with a baby attached to you in a sling lol-some people dont have/dont like slings!
My doctors surgery is tiny but they are not stupid enough to impose rules about prams-rightly so!-struggling with a baby & a toddler and a changing bag whilst stopping said toddler trying to run of through all the rooms easier said than done!-
I dont have a car and many people dont so why would i want to leave my baby strapped in an uncomfortable carseat ?

Blubberryboo-i also think its the receptionists that instigate most of this lunacy.
I dare say this will be happening in our surgery soon as our receptionists are plain awful

Vezzie my agenda is as stated:
my GP brought in the ban when I had a newborn, I was furious and didn't imagine it would work, as were my mum friends. It really wasn't as bad as all that in reality so my agenda is to reassure that it is doable for most of us, its not as bad as it seems, I think in general we rely on things we don't REALLY need so much that we cannot imagine holding our child on our lap for 20 mins! that's a bit bad isn't it? and I say that as someone who was as guilty of it as the OP at the time.

its shite that the buildings are so badly planned, but they were, and really what can be done? what can REALLY be done? hopefully eventually they'll be modified/replaced but for now they need to be safe so lets those of us who can get on with it, think AROUND the problem and leave the complaining about not being allowed to bring buggies in to the people who NEED their buggies - really NEED them, because if everyone is insisting they need them then the people who really do will be drowned out..
.. it's like with allergies, so many people claim allergies when actually they just don't LIKE something.. resulting in people like I have in my family who have anaphalactic shock and stop breathing allergies not being taken seriously in restraunts when they ask for the ingredients to be properly checked with the chef..
.. so back to buggies.. the buildings were planned by an overpaid idiot! no provision for buggies plus people plus fire routes.. reversing the bans would be wrong, what's worse than being trapped in a fire? So I think that those of us who just feel dependant on buggies but have no real serious need should suck up the ban and work around it so that we don't drown out the ones who actually need the receptionist to take their need seriously! If every parent who walks in gives them an earful about how they NEED the buggy, then when it comes to someone who really does, will they really HEAR them?

pumpkinsweetie, I agree, many of the admin people around health services seem to have completely forgotten that the service is supposed to help people. They think everything is your fault, and you must be punished - sighing things like, "If you had called this morning, when we release the appointments...." but my baby did not have pus coming out of her eyes this morning.

pumpkin, I don't make the bans, I wish there wasn't a need for them and new/refurbed surgeries were done sensibly so we could have them safely PLUS escape routes. But that is not the case

some people don't have travel systems
(and I know some people don't have cars I didn't have one when I had a newborn)
but some do, and those that DO have that option, its an option, there are other options, if your GP surgery is one that has banned buggies then find a way of making it work for you if you can - and if you do, share your problem solving suggestions for others who can't imagine it working at first - that's all I've done! I've not told anyone to buy anything - some people (a lot of people) already have these things but still want to take the full buggy in

What if your a mother with a double buggy and your at the doctors because your unwell???
This was me a few weeks back i felt sick and then passed out i phoned doctors and god knows how i walked there (thank god for the pram) and the only doctor available was upstairs and when i said i felt to weak to carry the children upstairs i was told i could make another appointment but there was nothing available for a couple of days

So, say there was a fire, and there was a logjam of people trying to get out of the surgery with all the pushchairs in the way.Say people got injured. Then you find out you can't get compensation because the surgery's insurance was invalid because it allowed a fire hazard to occur. How will you feel then?
Yes, it is annoying. When my kids were of pushchair age,I could not take one into our surgery, and had to leave it with the others in the entrance hall, overlooked by the receptionists. But that was the way it was. I'd rather be safe than kick up a fuss. My kids had to sit and play with toys or I read them a story till it was our turn. I didn't let them run around the waiting room, as I've seen some people do. They had to learn to sit and wait.Patiently.

yakbutter - Why is it a stupid question? Babies can't walk.

'How come they allow wheelchairs but they don't allow pushchairs?'

This will comse as a shock to all the pushchair toting PFB mums, but Other People use doctor's surgeries too, and some of them are actually worse off than thou....

Babies can be carried. Adults in wheelchairs can't. Nor can they be put in a sling. Nor can they be laid on a blanket on the floor.

But this thread isn't about who's worse off it's about the admission of all patients at doctors' surgeries.

Babies who aren't ambulent have just as much right to treatment as disabled people and so do their carers.

Yikes Frieda I thought you were joking at first. Now I'm not so sure.

Wanders away shaking head in disbelief

Cremeeggsandkitkatsoldiers Tue 10-Apr-12 12:20:50
right well while it is common to have one or two problems on that list, it is rare to have them all at once. So while the average parent may have to find a solution to one or two of these issues, not many people are unlucky enough to need one solution that solves them all! And for the others I'ld expect an exception to be made, and i think it would be!

i disagree.

Be of sound health
Be of sound mind
Do not have children too close together
Do not have twins
Buy a travel system even if you do not need one
Have a baby that doesn't shit very often and never does explosive poos or vomits
Live very near to the doctor's surgery
Use one where there are HCPs available to help with your children while you do stuff
Use one that does not mind babies being rested on the floor while you eg have a smear
Have a husband available

I would think that most women going to the doctors in my area have at least 6 of those issues
My surgery does actually have a blood test department, so a lot of people are going for physical exams.
It is a new health centre and is shit in other respects but has been made accessible for pushchairs and there is more then enough room, wide corridors etc.
A lot of people I know already dont go to the dr often due to the hassle of making an appointment, getting silly appointment times like 3, when you have to pick up kids from school or pick up other kids from school if you have one, the long waiting times, fitting appointments around 3+ kids school drop offs/pick ups and activities (I live in an area which has the largest amount of under 18s in the uk). If they had no buggy policy, considering it is inner London and a large proportion dont drive, and there is no need to drive, this would just put them off even more.

DD (2) walked the mile to the GP's surgery whilst I carried DS (6w) in a sling for my postnatal check-up. I had completely forgotten that having had a c-section the GP would need access to the scar... and I couldn't put him on the bed because I was lying on it... could have done with a buggy then! GP and I had to keep playing pass the parcel.

It was my fault though as I could have taken the buggy - but does highlight the issues. Our surgery is very reasonable - large buggy room for buggies during baby clinic, but for normal appointments (mother or baby) buggies can be taken in to appointment rooms. Exceptionally buggies get taken into baby clinic too (e.g. sleeping sibling). I've no problem with that policy at all.

Kladdkaka - Me being against doctors' surgeries discriminating against pushchair users and their carers, in no way discrinates against wheelchair users.