Anyone work for NHS and have varicose veins?!

[dldl]

I work on my feet all day, often 12 hour shifts. Currently 24/40 pregnant. Developed a couple of varicose veins and want to prevent any more. Contacted my Health and Work Centre at my trust to see if they provide compression stockings. They said they don't provide them. Has anyone else had any experience with this and whether their trust provides them or not.

There are loads in the hospital obviously and I imagine there are staff who just take without asking but in my opinion it is stealing as they are for patients not the clinicians.

Would be interested to hear your experiences? Did you get from the trust? Did you get your GP to prescribe? Did you buy them yourself?

Thanks

I bought firm support tights from M&S. I had to cut the waste band when I got to about 34 weeks though. Your GP could prescribe them I would think.

Thanks. Got to wait about 3 weeks for an appointment with my GP and then anything from 40mins to an hour in the waiting room...might just buy them!!

My colleague got hers from the GO but you could just get them from Boots in the meantime?

Not GO, GP!

I got maternity compression tights from a website www.daylong.co.uk. They are made by solidea and go right up over the bump. They are nearly £30 a pair but worth every penny. I too am on my feet all day and I love them, my sister hated them (but she sits at a desk all day and found they dug in) never wore them and now she's got varicose veins!

The GP may prescribe below the knee ones which I also have pair of and they are comfortable but they don't give any support to the thighs or bump.

Could you not ask your line manager if you could have a pair?