Doctors waiting room.

pauldavid

My mother in law works in a doctors surgery and over the last few months they have had real trouble with people negotiating their way round the waiting room because of the number of patients who come into the building on their mobility scooter as they "simply can't get about without it".

So, at a recent practice H&S meeting the doctors agreed to start asking people what particular ailment was stopping them from entering/leaving the practice on foot(leaving the scooter in the practice car park) if it was not obvious from their records. Those that have no reason not to do so are then asked to park outside as it were.

Within a period of 2 weeks the waiting room is easily negotiated because barely any of the scooters are actually required for any other reason than the rider/driver is basically (a) fat (b) lazy (c) both

Even some of the doctors have commented that these machines are rarely used by those that would have a legitimate reason but more likely the terminally lazy who's only aspiration is to be terminally obese.

What on earth is wrong with this country? :roll:

Frank the tank

I blame these entrepreneurs selling them to all and sundry just to make a quick buck without a single thought for the effect they're having on society. As long as they make their fortune that's alright, I'd have thought that was something you'd have approved of.

pauldavid

Frank the tank wrote:

I blame these entrepreneurs selling them to all and sundry just to make a quick buck without a single thought for the effect they're having on society. As long as they make their fortune that's alright, I'd have thought that was something you'd have approved of.

Have I upset you in some way Frank?

And you can hardly blame someone running a business for selling his stock to someone who wants to buy it! After all, he most likely has a mortgage and bills the same as anyone else.

Surely the problem lies with a section of our society that looks at a product that presumably was designed for the elderly, frail or disabled and decides it's exactly what they need to move their lardy arse instead of walking anywhere.

Cleat Eastwood

Whats wrong with this country is that people without any visible infirmity are telling those who need help to be mobile to forgo their essential mode of transport because it's a nuisance in a workplace.

Do you think you could tell your mother in law to tell the doctor he\she is cnut - and that the body and mind that is now able will one day be less so -it comes to us all- and nobody, whether in a chair, a scooter, a divan chair or a feckin tardis should ever be considered an inconvenience.

Go on, I dare you, even better, tell us where the surgery is so we can get in touch

Richard_D

Cleat, You haven't been using a mobility scooter at you local surgery have you?
Considering how small most Doctors' waiting rooms are and how large some of the mobilty scooters are, I am not surprised that if the doctors surgery has no record of why one is needed they are asking. Not that the OP did not say that the old and infirm were prevented from using them just that a request for information was being asked when they had none on record.
As with anything like this I have seen it abused we makes it harder for those that need it.

Frank the tank

pauldavid wrote:

Frank the tank wrote:

I blame these entrepreneurs selling them to all and sundry just to make a quick buck without a single thought for the effect they're having on society. As long as they make their fortune that's alright, I'd have thought that was something you'd have approved of.

Have I upset you in some way Frank?

And you can hardly blame someone running a business for selling his stock to someone who wants to buy it! After all, he most likely has a mortgage and bills the same as anyone else.

Surely the problem lies with a section of our society that looks at a product that presumably was designed for the elderly, frail or disabled and decides it's exactly what they need to move their lardy ars* instead of walking anywhere.

No fella, you haven't it's an internet forum we pays our money and makes our choice.

The post was meant to be my stab at irony given views posted elsewhere on here.

BowtomePhil

What is wrong, is that people think they can get away with a pretend illness, back is a good one and get disability and never work.

I know many people with disability payments. It beggars belief some of them.

example A: Fred(not his real name) has the phobia that means he hates open spaces, so him and his wife get disability and everything going. His son started playing football a few years ago, and his dad goes to watch every game. They even had a 4th child so they could get a 4 bedroomed house in a brand new estate. My daughter has a small house and works hard and barely can afford to live.

example B: a woman I know her son has sickle cell, a nasty disease, but affects the poor boy about 4 times a year for a day. She gets disablity payments and bought a brand new car, doesnt work, I can't afford a brand new car.

And don't start me on fat people, they are just lazy and have no self respect. Sorry please don't say they want to lose weight but can't. I notice in London that where there is one fat person, there is normally 2, and usually seen heading for McDonalds.

My mate is 22 stone, i always tell him "Next time you are in town look around, you never see any old fat men"

capt_slog

A lot of people have seen the spaceship passengers in "Wall.E" and regard this as an advert rather than a warning?

benjboy

what happens if you are knocked down/run over by one of these things. Do this people have insurance or is it a cause if trying to claim of there house insurance (if they have any ).

Pross

benjboy wrote:

what happens if you are knocked down/run over by one of these things. Do this people have insurance or is it a cause if trying to claim of there house insurance (if they have any ).

Isn't that the same argument many motorists use regarding cyclists?

daviesee

benjboy wrote:

what happens if you are knocked down/run over by one of these things. Do this people have insurance or is it a cause if trying to claim of there house insurance (if they have any ).

Quite right.
Get them to pay tax while you are at it. And get the machines safety tested, call it an MOT.
They should not be allowed to go through red lights. Where is the Hi-Viz, the lights, the helmet........

fast as fupp

BowtomePhil wrote:

What is wrong, is that people think they can get away with a pretend illness, back is a good one and get disability and never work.

I know many people with disability payments. It beggars belief some of them.

example A: Fred(not his real name) has the phobia that means he hates open spaces, so him and his wife get disability and everything going. His son started playing football a few years ago, and his dad goes to watch every game. They even had a 4th child so they could get a 4 bedroomed house in a brand new estate. My daughter has a small house and works hard and barely can afford to live.

example B: a woman I know her son has sickle cell, a nasty disease, but affects the poor boy about 4 times a year for a day. She gets disablity payments and bought a brand new car, doesnt work, I can't afford a brand new car.

And don't start me on fat people, they are just lazy and have no self respect. Sorry please don't say they want to lose weight but can't. I notice in London that where there is one fat person, there is normally 2, and usually seen heading for McDonalds.

My mate is 22 stone, i always tell him "Next time you are in town look around, you never see any old fat men"

have you reported these fraudsters to the authorities?

Gazzaputt

BowtomePhil wrote:

What is wrong, is that people think they can get away with a pretend illness, back is a good one and get disability and never work.

I know many people with disability payments. It beggars belief some of them.

example A: Fred(not his real name) has the phobia that means he hates open spaces, so him and his wife get disability and everything going. His son started playing football a few years ago, and his dad goes to watch every game. They even had a 4th child so they could get a 4 bedroomed house in a brand new estate. My daughter has a small house and works hard and barely can afford to live.

example B: a woman I know her son has sickle cell, a nasty disease, but affects the poor boy about 4 times a year for a day. She gets disablity payments and bought a brand new car, doesnt work, I can't afford a brand new car.

And don't start me on fat people, they are just lazy and have no self respect. Sorry please don't say they want to lose weight but can't. I notice in London that where there is one fat person, there is normally 2, and usually seen heading for McDonalds.

My mate is 22 stone, i always tell him "Next time you are in town look around, you never see any old fat men"

PM me the details I wouldn't mind dobbing them in.

benjboy

Pross wrote:

benjboy wrote:

what happens if you are knocked down/run over by one of these things. Do this people have insurance or is it a cause if trying to claim of there house insurance (if they have any ).

Isn't that the same argument many motorists use regarding cyclists?

True very true but have never seen a bike knock a car over yet

Pross

benjboy wrote:

Pross wrote:

benjboy wrote:

what happens if you are knocked down/run over by one of these things. Do this people have insurance or is it a cause if trying to claim of there house insurance (if they have any ).

Isn't that the same argument many motorists use regarding cyclists?

True very true but have never seen a bike knock a car over yet

Have you seen a mobility scooter knock a car over then?

benjboy

Pross wrote:

benjboy wrote:

Pross wrote:

benjboy wrote:

what happens if you are knocked down/run over by one of these things. Do this people have insurance or is it a cause if trying to claim of there house insurance (if they have any ).

Isn't that the same argument many motorists use regarding cyclists?

True very true but have never seen a bike knock a car over yet

Have you seen a mobility scooter knock a car over then?

No but every scooter i have seen has a FAT person on it,so back to the OPs question, Fat people should be starved or made to go to boot camp :twisted: ....

BowtomePhil

And ban them from using Mobile phones so when they are bed ridden, they can't order 10 large pizzas for delivery.

tiredofwhiners

It all comes down to belief. If you believe 100% of mobility scooters have a disability then you're okay with it. If you don't, then you don't.

Being fat is not actually a disability in itself - its an effect of something else.

The UK has a hugely disproportionate number of mobility scooters - the Daily Wail says 70k of them five years ago and now there are 300k of them. The argument of them being treated the same as bikes isn;t actually an unreasonable one as long as they are propelled by ones own legs. As soon as you put a motor in them, they become three/four wheeled mopeds, and should be taxed, licenced etc accordingly.

Speaking from experience, my wifes great Aunt who almost never went in a car, always used the bus and somehow managed to buy one on her own, and aged 80 had to be 'removed' from the Coventry ring road on her way to the shops.

I like the OP original post - anyone can bring a mobility scooter in, as long as the doctor has prescribed it for a medical ailment, which doesn't have exercise as a part of the cure. If your employer doesn't provide access and you have a medical condition, then they can quite rightly be fined. If you're just fat and/or lazy, they have no obligation and all other businesses should do the same.

DevonClimber

benjboy wrote:

what happens if you are knocked down/run over by one of these things. Do this people have insurance or is it a cause if trying to claim of there house insurance (if they have any ).

http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/Man-60s ... story.html

I thank you...

Pross

benjboy wrote:

Pross wrote:

benjboy wrote:

Pross wrote:

benjboy wrote:

what happens if you are knocked down/run over by one of these things. Do this people have insurance or is it a cause if trying to claim of there house insurance (if they have any ).

Isn't that the same argument many motorists use regarding cyclists?

True very true but have never seen a bike knock a car over yet

Have you seen a mobility scooter knock a car over then?

No but every scooter i have seen has a FAT person on it,so back to the OPs question, Fat people should be starved or made to go to boot camp :twisted: ....

You don't think that being disabled and therefore being limited in the amount of exercise you can do might assist in creating weight gain then? No doubt there are people who use them out of laziness and the policy the OP describes appears reasonable in that it uses known medical information to determine if the person is allowed to use the scooter in the surgery but in almost any other situation there would be a risk of disability discrimination in preventing these scooters being used (although I'm still unsure why they have become popular rather than traditional wheelchairs or electric wheelchairs).

DrKJM

Dear god but some people on here are bloody intolerant b******s. Some people that use mobility scooters MIGHT be able to get around without them. Some people are lazy. But not all. And if someone would like to tell me to my face that my mother, who used one to visit chester zoo when she was waiting for an op on her spine, was swinging the lead then I'd be only too happy to point out the error of their ways.

Edit: Bowdlerised because i thought the forum would do it automatically and it left swearing in.

tiredofwhiners

DrKJM wrote:

Dear god but some people on here are bloody intolerant bastards. Some people that use mobility scooters MIGHT be able to get around without them. Some people are lazy. But not all. And if someone would like to tell me to my face that my mother, who used one to visit chester zoo when she was waiting for an op on her spine, was swinging the lead then I'd be only too happy to point out the error of their ways.

And one persons experience (yours) doesn't make a trend. I can point out a massively fat lady whose vehicle has large chunky tyres to cope with her weight, loading up with pizzas and chips at the local supermarket every Thursday. Does that make me wrong because your mother used one once ? No. It makes you hopelessly naive as you cannot explain why 300,000 people use them now but only 70,000 of them used them five year ago does it ?

I say MOST don't need them. Prove me wrong and stop being an intolerant bastard towards the fat and lazy

tiredofwhiners

Pross wrote:

You don't think that being disabled and therefore being limited in the amount of exercise you can do might assist in creating weight gain then?

No, because unless your disability creates some strange side effect which forces you to exceed your calorie intake over expenditure, there is no absolute reason why people should put on weight. It does not automatically follow that people who need the scooters MUST continue to gorge themselves on too many calories does it ? Peopl get fat because they eat too many calories - not because they are disabled or mobility restricted.

Why is it you don't see the scooters blocking up the fresh fruit aisles and only appear in the pizza, ice cream and frozen chips area ?

DrKJM

tiredofwhiners wrote:

DrKJM wrote:

Dear god but some people on here are bloody intolerant bastards. Some people that use mobility scooters MIGHT be able to get around without them. Some people are lazy. But not all. And if someone would like to tell me to my face that my mother, who used one to visit chester zoo when she was waiting for an op on her spine, was swinging the lead then I'd be only too happy to point out the error of their ways.

And one persons experience (yours) doesn't make a trend. I can point out a massively fat lady whose vehicle has large chunky tyres to cope with her weight, loading up with pizzas and chips at the local supermarket every Thursday. Does that make me wrong because your mother used one once ? No. It makes you hopelessly naive as you cannot explain why 300,000 people use them now but only 70,000 of them used them five year ago does it ?

I say MOST don't need them. Prove me wrong and stop being an intolerant bastard towards the fat and lazy

Indeed, my experiences don't make a trend. But you do realise your observation perfectly demolishes your own generalisations, right?

plowmar

Sorry Pross, but you must know that if calories in exceed calories out e.g. exercise or just living then you put on weight. And you don't just put on an extra few stones it does take time (and dedication?) so any one overweight in a scooter either was overweight before or have eat their way to it after getting the scooter. So if no disability reason completely self inflicted. Suggest gastric bands or tapes over mouths.

tiredofwhiners

DrKJM wrote:

tiredofwhiners wrote:

DrKJM wrote:

Dear god but some people on here are bloody intolerant bastards. Some people that use mobility scooters MIGHT be able to get around without them. Some people are lazy. But not all. And if someone would like to tell me to my face that my mother, who used one to visit chester zoo when she was waiting for an op on her spine, was swinging the lead then I'd be only too happy to point out the error of their ways.

And one persons experience (yours) doesn't make a trend. I can point out a massively fat lady whose vehicle has large chunky tyres to cope with her weight, loading up with pizzas and chips at the local supermarket every Thursday. Does that make me wrong because your mother used one once ? No. It makes you hopelessly naive as you cannot explain why 300,000 people use them now but only 70,000 of them used them five year ago does it ?

I say MOST don't need them. Prove me wrong and stop being an intolerant bastard towards the fat and lazy

Indeed, my experiences don't make a trend. But you do realise your observation perfectly demolishes your own generalisations, right?

Not at all.

You seem to try to deny the existence of people who are fat, and don't have a medical reason. All I am doing is pointing out that this position is untenable. A lot of people are fat and don't have medical conditions - these shouldn't be allowed mobility scooters. You want to give the benefit of the doubt - most of us don't.

Seriously, next time you see a mobility scooter shopper in the supermarket, have a look in their shopping trolley. You won't find anything low calories in there - it'll be high calorie crap in almost every one you look in. Then come back and tell me to give them the benefit of the doubt if you can keep a straight face.

DrKJM

tiredofwhiners wrote:

Not at all.

You seem to try to deny the existence of people who are fat, and don't have a medical reason. All I am doing is pointing out that this position is untenable. A lot of people are fat and don't have medical conditions - these shouldn't be allowed mobility scooters. You want to give the benefit of the doubt - most of us don't.

Seriously, next time you see a mobility scooter shopper in the supermarket, have a look in their shopping trolley. You won't find anything low calories in there - it'll be high calorie crap in almost every one you look in. Then come back and tell me to give them the benefit of the doubt if you can keep a straight face.

The only thing I challenge is your ability to make a medical diagnosis based upon a cursory glance and a mass of prejudices. Of course some overweight people are victims of their own behaviour. But the thrust of your argument was much more sweeping than that, and based on data from the Daily Mail for god's sake.

tiredofwhiners

DrKJM wrote:

The only thing I challenge is your ability to make a medical diagnosis based upon a cursory glance and a mass of prejudices.

No, I look in their shopping trolleys and invariably find a fat person motor-trolleying around a trolley full of stuff that makes a thin person fat. Being fat isn't a medical condition - its consequence of calories out and calories in.

I can recognise a fat person in a motability scooter at a fair distance and it doesn't take a medical degree to know they are fat and need to lose weight. Why do you have this obsession with trying to avoid having fat people responsible for being fat ?

As a doctor do you regularly prescribe a diet of cake, doughnuts and pizza thereby giving then an excuse ? If people are fat, its because they eat more than their energy consumption requires. If they are immobile, then they need less calories - not a trolley to collect more pizza than they could carry on their own two feet. Thats not a medical condition requiring a qualification to work out - a two year old can do the sums.

I had 19 weeks with a leg immobilised in plaster, raised in the air, and lost a lot of weight. I didn't feel the need for a mobility scooter or pizza.

DrKJM

tiredofwhiners wrote:

As a doctor

Not that sort of doctor. But someone who likes to think of individuals rather than jumping to conclusions. I don't for example think you are a red light jumping, road tax evading tosser just because you ride a bike. You might be. But I have no way of telling. You seem to assume that all overweight people would do better if only they lived like you. I try to recognise that there may be other issues I don't know about without asking. That's all.

Wouldn't the world be nicer if we all got off our high horses about 'them'. Car drivers vs cyclists. Fit people vs fat people. Unfit people vs those gits who cost the nhs with all their damn unnecessary sports injuries. You get the picture

daviesee

So many people missing the original point................

tiredofwhiners

DrKJM wrote:

You seem to assume that all overweight people would do better if only they lived like you. I try to recognise that there may be other issues I don't know about without asking. That's all.

I just happen to think that a fat person is better off getting the exercise walking and only being able to carry enough pizza and chips that they can actually lift themselves, rather than using a motorised vehicle to allow them to move even more food into the kitchen cupboards.

You assume that every fat person you see has a valid medical reason for their state. Most of us know that position is ridiculous. Has it occurred to you that the increase in the number of ridiculously fat people is because they are given motorised assistance to reach the ice cream and chips, rather than being limited by how far they can waddle ?