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.

No, my 'sob story' wasn't solved by being able to take my buggy into the surgery, but at a time when things were falling apart, something as simple as the receptionist saying, 'don't worry, make sure your buggy is out of people's way', did make a huge difference. I think if she had said, 'sorry, you'll have to wake up dd2 and ds before you go and see the dr' I would probably have turned around and gone home.

Try to have some understanding.

whatmeworry-another rude poster

Oh for crying out loud.

5 mad things was suffering from depression and psychosis. That's not a sob story it's a fucking awful state to be in and a bit of help makes all the difference.

Many women struggle badly after they have had children and getting help is hard. Being unable to take your children with you to an appt puts a lot of barriers in the way. With mental health issues many women do not want to tell partners / family / friends that there is a problem so childcare is not available as they can't give a reason.

Compassion is seriously lacking amongst some posters on this thread. If someone is in the middle of a mental health crisis then enabling them see the doctor is a good idea, surely.

I think some posters on here, when confronted with someone knocked down by a car, would give them a stern lecture about how they were crossing the road all wrong, refuse to call an ambulance, and march off smugly.

whatmeworry-another rude poster

Bah it's called disagreeing. And this is AIBU

We are talking not being able to take a pushchairs into a surgery fgs, not denial of healthcare. This thread has turned into a plethora of competitive small violins.

So you disagree that when 5madgirls was suffering from mental health issues, she should have been allowed by the surgery to take her buggy in so that she could manage with her children and get the help she needed.

And call depression and psychosis a "sob story".

Well we're all allowed our different opinions, obviously.

whatmeworry-disagreeing is one thing and people have the right to disagree but you are rude and arrogant calling a ladys story about her depression a "sob story" which is absurd.
God forbid that you ever come across mental health problems

Jeez, WhatmeWorry, you really are the milkman of human kindness aren't you.

Im startting to wonder if whatmeworry is one of the rude receptionist us poor poeple come across at the doctors?

I've never understand the attitude "Man up - this is AIBU".

Is that a reason to display a lack of compassion and empathy for someone who has been through the mill?

All in all, I think post-natal depression and psychosis is a rather big violin. That's serious.

It's hardly a case of Clothilde's mummy having problems arranging an appointment with her private GP for wart removal, or something!

I get the feeling that a few on this thread probably believe that pnd and depression could be sorted out by just bucking up a bit. And as for those ill children, they should just sort themselves out.

Having compassion for other peoples problems isn't going to change H&S rules about clear exits and walkways that will need to be used in the event of an emergency. You can't write a risk assessment and ignore an actual problem in the name of having compassion.

I understand that some people will struggle, what I don't understand is how you expect a surgery in an old or small building to cope with more than one or two pushchairs if they simply dont have the space for them to be taken into the waiting room safely without causing a hazard for other people.

What about compassion for other people that use the surgery?

I wasn't passing comment on the topic. I was making an observation about AIBU.

Why do some surgeries have the mad book-on-the-day system for everything, anyway? Is it Tony Blair's fault? It's ridiculous.

I know Ariel, you aren't tho only one to feel that compassion is lacking here though, and I don't like being made to feel like I'm being mean to mothers who are struggling just because I can see the bigger picture and am aware that there would still be a problem if everyone could take their pushchairs into surgeries.

Jessie, I think it was something to do with targets for having access to GPs. People complained that they couldn't get appointments to see GPs for days, so this is what they did to solve it.

You're still misunderstanding me. I don't have an opinion on the pushchairs in surgeries thing. However, I am aghast at someone who has had problems with mobility and depression being described as "whinging" about not having a perfect life.

Anyway, I have no wish to be in another argument :)

outraged it's difficult to attach great import to H&S concerns in a tthread where it has been suggested that H&S would be served by placing infants on the floor to be trampled!

Although, ironically, I think I once was on a thread, arguing that one should obey escalator rules, and should never disobey the signs prohibiting pushchairs. I'm sure I saw one of the names who said she took hers up the escalator on ths thread, advocating banning them from surgeries' waiting rooms!

'5 mad things was suffering from depression and psychosis'

originally she said she had eczema, she has now remembered it was actually psychosis

Placing infants on the floor in the waiting room does indeed sound like a silly idea, but placing a baby on a blanket on the floor while a mother has a six week check up seems fine to me. I don't know what that comment was referring to.

Either way, if you are going to argue against a buggy ban, it makes sense to try and understand the reason why a surgery might feel they have to impose one, because that's the onlyway a solution to all of the problems can be found. It's pointless to just bang on about how difficult it will be for a few mothers when the solution to that problem will create another equally concerning problem for someone else.

Ariel, fair enough.

Oopsi, wasn't aware with NHS cutbacks you have to limit your demands on the NHS to one illness at a time.

no just strange how she didn't remeber to put that in the first post where she said she was going for treatment for eczema.Only when I said she had 3 sensible older children who could hold and entertain the little one did she remember about it.

Well, I think the "banging on" stems from some posters' wilful refusal to acknowledge that there could be any drawbacks to a pushchair-ban. I suppose they see us as wilfully refusing to acknowledge H&S.

Regardless, the issue is that though the end can justify the means, you have to add up all the ends first. Surgeries across the country may have done that, and tried to put plans in place to limit the negative results. Some definitely haven't.

And some posters on this thread definitely wouldn't/don't/haven't add(ed) up all the ends.

Maybe you are reading to much into it, or taking a viewpoint and interpreting everything from that standpoint.