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.

bigoted - 'having or revealing an obstinate belief in the superiority of one?s own opinions' Oxford English Dictionary.

zzzz, I think you have it about right!

I think there does need to be a bit of leeway, at our surgery they ask you to leave buggies in the porch, and most times I manage this, but they don't usually have a problem if the waiting room isn't crowded. There are days where there are 4 or 5 people with buggies, and then i can understand why they ask people to leave them outside, because it makes it very hazardous for other patients.

Completely agree with SardineQueen.

My dentist doesn't have a lift and I am petite and I can't carry a buggy and help two children up two flight of stairs (can do now but not when they were both younger) , and have put off going to the dentist and it resulted me having to have 2 root canal treatments and 2 reconstructions.

As a starter for ten, perhaps something along the lines of:

Hello,

I would like to make a complaint about the ban on pushchairs in the Dysart surgery from the first of April. I am a mother of three children, aged 4, 2 and 1.

I do not have easy access to daytime childcare and try to book my own appointments around naptimes so that I can speak with a GP while the younger children sleep in their pushchair. If the ban is enforced then I will find it very difficult to attend the surgery, particularly for physical examinations. Many other mothers are in a similar position. I am concerned that the ban may mean some mothers are discouraged from attending routine check ups and that it may even deter some mothers from seeking medical assistance when they really need it.

I would ask that you reconsider this ban as it disproportionately affects mothers with young children. As an alternative, I would suggest that the surgery considers replacing some of the chairs in the waiting room with folding chairs. These could be folded up out of the way when space is needed for either a pushchair or wheelchair, without obstructing gangways for other surgery users.

I look forward to receiving your response.

Kind regards etc.

Scroobius that's a good letter - concise, and clear. OP, would be worth using this letter :)

Sardine, i completely agree with you, with pnd i found every little outing so stressfull and dreaded anything going wrong, or holding me/us up that i often cancelled appts because of the tinest thing, that now, i wouldn't consider a problem.

It got so bad, that i ended up having home visits, but a lot of places don't offer these.

The more i think about it, the angrier i get, at everyturn parents are made to feel like a nuisance, in the way etc.
Now they are making it harder for potentially vunerable parents to get help they desperatley need.

My DS slept well as a baby and child. He has always until recently been very polite. My friends who have struggled with sleep/ manners/ behaviour have never once hear a superior comment by me. Just compassionate and a ear to moan to even if I have no solutions.

My DD on the other hand is a sleep horror and exhausting me! So grateful for the wonderful friends I have who I didn't alienate with my perfect child!

claireall the fall from the pedestal is high but if you sit on bench with others it's a much cosier experience.

There's a lot of unwarranted hostility on this thread. Doctors' surgeries need to be accessible to all users and that includes parents of very young children.

This is not about the superiority of mothers - it's about healthcare services being accessible. Single parents of very small children will struggle with this - I had two small children and when any one of us had to go to the doctor we all had to go. There is no parking at the Drs so we always walk, even if ill, and therefore always have the buggy with us. Having the baby in the buggy while I held the vomiting toddler/held her while she had her injections/whatever made life a tiny bit easier.

If there's no room at the surgery then that's a problem and there may not be a way around it but why don't we stop designing families with small children out of our lives? Parents of small children are heavy users of these services.

I know it's difficult - my GP's surgery is in a Georgian townhouse with ridiculously steep stairs (very difficult for the elderly to get up them, also difficult for single mum with vomiting child and baby). The waiting room is tiny - about 10ft by 10ft. So sometimes there is no choice. But I don't like the casual disrespect for people trying to access these services with small children. And so what if you "had to put up with it in your day"? That's not a good enough reason to carry on doing something uphelpful. Like I say, I can see that there may not be a good solution but that's not a reason to be gleeful about it.

I could never go in and get my now 19 month old weighed and seen at the baby clinic on my own as it was on from 1-3pm and it was my older DCs sleep time, and they wouldn't allow buggies in. Luckily my DH is a teacher so I had to wait for his half terms, so he could come with us. I think my DD has been weighed about 3 times since she was born!

Kveta you are allowed to bring your OWN toys and books to waiting rooms. Do you really want staff taken from clinical areas to clean a hoard of toys and inspect them for faults every day? A play house and a table and chairs is enough to entertain them if there are any other children there to play pretend with, if not, get a book or toy out of your bag!

The comparison with wheelchairs is pure ignorance. Of course wheelchairs are not included, it's in no way the same thing. Babies are portable and being a baby is not a disability!

margoandjerry - absolutely spot on

Great post, margo. Permission to cut and paste it liberally around MN please?

outraged the pushchair is for the babe in arms, so that your hands are free to deal with the other child/ren.

If you are holding a baby it is hard to also control a toddler for any period of time.

kveta no-one on here has likened pushchairs and wheelchairs.

I have seen one person asked whether it meant wheelchairs were banned too, which seemed like a silly question which is presumably why no-one answered it.

People had to put up with a lot of stuff in the Olden Days. I'm glad we are not living like that now. And it will be good to know, life will be even easier for our children when they are older.

and the buggy bans do not extend to the car seat section of travel systems, so for the likes of margoandjerry, why don't you have the baby in the car seat on the floor while holding toddler for injections?. You don't have to hold them both in your arms!

Just because you leave the buggy downstairs doesn't mean you also have to leave:

• the car seat element
• your slings
• your bag of toys/books/flashing tat

you could even bring a bumboo if you have one - They're light and small enough to go under a M&P travel system on the way to and from the GP - job done!

Maybe its time fopr limiting buggy sizes. These ones the size of a small car and twice the price are clearly not designed for considerate indoors use.

But what about parents who have mobility issues Cremeeggs?
I would love nothing more than to roll around on the grass and kick a football with ds, infact i often have to wear sunglasses on cloudy days to the park because it upsets me to the point of tears that i can not do what dh gets to do with him.

I am expecting again in July, and have to have a c section because of pelvic surgery i had when i was younger, it is physically impossible for me to have a vaginal delivery, i have had to use a wheelchair before, and will very likely have to again in the future.
I have used a sling a handful of times, but it is too painful.
I do not drive, as i couldn't complete an emergency stop if i needed to.
So what are parents like me supposed to do?

Is it just my children that wouldn't want to play with their own toys brought from home, no that won't hold their interest when there are much more interesting shelves/drawers/bins to inspect? This is when a toy box with completely unseen before toys become very useful.

cremeeggs it's an actual buggy. Don't have a travel system.

Scroobious and bigjoe I also wrote it with the buggies on buses issue in mind.

On another topic, my dr's surgery has one book for children and it's a book about teeth - in German . I always take my own books, of course, for the one hour wait

Just leave them at home...or get the gp to do a house call...or just suffer

YANBU

And it annoys me no end when I have left my buggy outside at the childrens centre and got a sleeping baby in a sling on my front, so I can't really play with my older child, that I have to trip over half a dozen car seats stratigically placed around the toddler group...arghhhhhhhhh. Aren't car seats a nuisance and a fire hazard too if there are enough of them???

OTTMum they make sensible exceptions which of course you should have

But we're talking about mums without disablilities (and a run of the mill CS is not a disability!) not being able to imagine life without a buggy for 30 mins, which is odd if you think about it! and I bellow fully admitted to being one of them when our buggy ban came in but quickly realised that I didn't need it as much as I thought and it was fine.

cremeEgg, your solution to this is that eveyone buys a M&P travel system?

That is a bit daft.

yes choceyes they would be, one would hope that if there is a buggy ban then people would be sensible enough to only bring in the car seat if the baby is asleep on arrival (because presumably at a children's centre there are nice mats for them to kick on). But because, like with buggies, it turns out that people cannot be sensible and think they need these things ALL THE TIME that they might have to ban car seats in your case at some point too!

If it had been a case where only women having physical exams took their big old buggies in and plonked them across escape routes then the bans probably wouldn't have been necessary, most appointments these days are NOT physical exams, a lot are for prescriptions or referrals or blood forms etc - yet EVERYONE was bringing their buggies in, so now everyone has to be banned