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.

Forevergreek remember when you had your newborn and 14month old? Add in another newborn. And you're all ill (hence the doctor's visit). Do you get it now?

There are good reasons why people need a buggy, but they are in a minority of buggy users. I don't see what's wrong with having a buggy ban for the majority of people that can cope without a buggy for a short amount of time, and then using discretion to allow thise with extra difficulties to keep their buggy with them.

And who is to exercise this discretion
What proof do they need that you need a buggy
How is this proof to be provided
When do you need to provide it

The thing is, it is 2012 things should be more accessible nowadays but because of all these silly health & saftey regulations (some are silly) alot of things are not accessible including some doctors surgerys and whilst that is ok for most of us it is not for others and why should they suffer.
Having children is hard work and made even harder when these silly rules were put in place.
Like sardinequeen said who is going to veeto who needs a buggy or who doesn't.
Why should we have to struggle when we could take our pushchairs in especially with sleeping babies it is the 21st century you know

I'm not going to argue this. Yes I know some people can't but the actual number is a lot smaller than the number insisting they need a buggy.

And yes I have had that scenario as have been looking after my sick sisters children ( 11 months and 4 years) alongside mine for a couple of months. And yes we have had one visit to a hospital with yougest to hospital last month. Yes it's a pain but no it wasn't impossible. One in sling, one in carseat, one holding spare hand and eldest holding toddlers hand. This was at 9pm. Baby slept in car seat, 2 and 4 year old played quietly then fell asleep on a chair. Youngest seen by doctor in arms.

I didn't think I had to give my life story to say its not impossible. I also have knee problems if your really interested.

If need to pee when out have baby on lap, toddler stands in cubicle waiting for me or using toilet themselves..

The whole debate here is only not being able to use a buggy from buggy park/ door of surgery , to inside, whole of what, 2 mins walk? Of course if you have triplets not walking/ 5 under 5 / one leg or something I'm sure common sense is in place and a buggy will be allowed. This is likely to be one person at a time as I doubt all those possibilities will have an appointment in the same 10 mins!

As long as the surgery takes responsibility if the Buggy is stolen I'd be fine with a no-pushchair rule in principle. But I would be very wary about it because I'm half blind and my youngest 2 are an 11 month old girl and a very boisterous 2 year old. I'd be nervous about maybe having to run through a busy Doctors surgery with an 11 month old in my arms to chase after the 2 year old.

Part of my condition (A huge part) is having to work out wether or not everyday things tthis like are safe for me and the kids when people change or add rues, so I need to consider worst-case scenarios. I wouldn't just kick up a fuss though. I'd do what I always do and try it out first. If I felt that it was going to be a real issue after that then I'd speak to the practoce manager about some sort of mututally convenient solution.

& im not a great lover of slings i personally find them hard to use, akward and they also make baby's clingy with you holding them the majority of the day.
And how is the doctor to check c-section scars, your chest or do a smear with a baby constantly attached to you

We have this rule in place at our GP too. It works really well. The majority of parents manage perfectly well by leaving their buggies in the porch and they are sensible enough to make allowances for parents in difficult circumstances.

A friend with heavy 10 month twins is permitted to take her buggy in as it's too tricky to carry both wrigglers.

When I last had a smear test, one of the reception staff was more than happy to cuddle DS for 5 minutes.

It's always worth having a quiet word widths receptionist. They are (sometimes) more helpful than you expect.

sardinequeen- this thtread isn't about people with disbilities.The surgery,by law, has to make reasonable adjustments to make it accessible to those people.
The thread is about a mother with a 1yr old, 2 yr old and another child under 5 who thinks it is unreasonable for her to have to leave the pushchair at the surgery door.
The vast majority of people could manage , it's just that many don't want to inconvenience themselves at all, for the safety and comfort of other service users.

It wouldn't be hard for a receptionist to see if a mother had twins and a toddler, or had mobility problems to enable and exception to be made for them.

Some people seem to be insisting that the only thing surgeries should do is to allow all pushchair users to be able to keep their pushchairs with them at all times, and that is simply not going to happen. It is also a very selfish attitude to take, because as much as you may want your pushchair with you, someone else may need the waiting room to not be cluttered up with pushchairs. They have as much right to consideration as you do.

So a compromise needs to be found. Having a ban on pushchairs and then allowing the rule to be relaxed for those in need would allow people with genuine difficulties to keep their pushchair, while at the same time ensuring that the surgery doesn't break all sorts of health and safety guidelines as well as keeping the floor clearer for those who need it.

Hmm, here is a (non-exhaustive) list of problems with assuming that allowances will be made for those who need them.

*The person on duty may only be willing to make allowances for "proper disabilities like the ones that put you in a wheelchair". That one happens lots.

*It relies on the person with the pushchair being willing to share quite personal information about her/his medical conditions, if they have a non-visible disability.

*It relies on someone else being willing to recognise that you will have problems without the pushchair. Some people would need it explicitly explained, before it occurred to them that a five foot nothing woman with an infected cs wound couldn't carry triplets through a heavy fire door on her own.

*It relies on the person needing the pushchair feeling able to ask for help. Going up to a receptionist, and saying, "Hi, sorry to bother you, but can I use my pushchair, despite your huge sign against them, because of [this situation/condition]?" isn't something that everyone can do.

Exactly. Agree 100% with what the last few posts have said

oopsi I am not sure you unilaterally get to decide what the thread is or isn't about. Disability was raised very early on in this thread and has been discussed an awful lot so it's odd that only now do you choose to chip in with "we're not talking about disability".

A friend with heavy 10 month twins is permitted to take her buggy in as it's too tricky to carry both wrigglers. NOT AT ALL SURGERIES

When I last had a smear test, one of the reception staff was more than happy to cuddle DS for 5 minutes. NOT AT ALL SURGERIES

It's always worth having a quiet word widths receptionist. They are (sometimes) more helpful than you expect. NOT AT ALL SURGERIES

Honestly do some people find it too hard to realise that what happens in their experience is not exactly the same as happens everywhere else in the entire country?

What TheBigJessie said.

People seem to be missing the fact that because of this women are not accessing medical treatment for themselves and their families that they need. That is not a good thing, surely?

The person on duty should be properly trained to be aware of hidden disabilities, and if they are not, then that is a training problem not a pushchair ban problem. The same goes for the point you make about someone needing it explained to them why a mother with an infected cs scar and triplets needs help.

The person needing the pushchair may occasionally have to share information, but receptionists are bound by confidentiality anyway. The odd person having to divulge information that make or may not make them slightly uncomfortable is preferable to a surgery full of buggies on a daily basis causing a problem for numerous elderly people, or anyone else who would find it a problem. It is also preferable to breaking H&S guidelines, they are there for a reason.

The person needing the pushchair may have to ask for help or for an exception to be made, yes. But that is just part of life that the vast majority of adults shudo be able to cope with. You cannot say its ok to cause an evacuation hazard as well as make a doctors visit a struggle for those who are elderly, have limited vision etc just because the ocassional mother doesn't have the confidence to tell a GP receptionist that she needs her pushchair.

I'm sure that the experiences of people who find it impossible to manage,far outweigh the experiences of people who cope. There will always be exceptions to every rule. Clinics/surgeries/out-patients cannot be expected to cover every individual circumstance...it is just not possible. I would argue that if you know you are going for a smear or blood test or something else invasive where you will not be able to look after you children for a short time, then you make every effort to arrange it at a time that will be convenient,get someone to babysit, or that you get someone to accompany you to look after them during your appointment. ( Or,even, if it is FOR one of your children so you can concentrate on that child).

Exactlly sardinequeen-some women are not accessing healthcare because of this-and this cannot be good at all.
If you have stitches you are not supposed to CARRY a child so if these women cannot take their pushchairs how are they supposed to get appropriate healthcare for themselves & dc, let alone immunizations & anything else

Sardine-((speaks slowly and clearly)) The DDA means that surgeries have to by law make adjustments to make their services accessible for those with disbilities.I am sure every surgery in the country is more than aware of that fact! Their rights of access are safeguarded by law and theerfore not applicable to this debate.

Actually I think the OP gets to decide what the thread is about, not me or you.

To make a very good point if there is room for a car park they should make room for pushchairs-people dont NEED cars but they use them.
Carparks should be made smaller, surgerys made bigger to accomidate prams-simples

I've seen threads on here from the parents of a young blue badge holder, who showed their child's badges, and yet their disabled child with mobility problems wasn't allowed to use the disabled toilet downstairs. Instead, they were supposed to use the upstairs one.

Why? The child wasn't in a wheelchair.

I've seen a thread from a woman with very bad SPD who took her older toddler to a children's centre, and who wasn't allowed to wheel the pushchair along the corridor inside, even though the alternative caused her great pain.

My single pushchair and sling arrangement is subject to the no-buggies rule at my local children's centre, even though I have twins. I stopped going until they became old enough for it to be more manageable.