Anwar Khan writes

>What do others
>provide for the children in their waiting rooms and do they have any
>problems with "things going missing"?


There are six points of view to this situation:
        child
        parent
        receptionist
        cleaner
        other patient
        doctor

The child wants not to be bored, has short attention span, may behave
immaturely when ill, may be scared. (in fact definition of child could
be extended to 50+ in the waiting room situation)

The parent is probably "sick and tired" of the child and wants a quiet
life - which hopefully doesn't involve either entertaining or reading to
child.

The receptionist likes "Victorian" children, seen but not heard.

The poor cleaner is often left to tidy the mess, so a few big toys are
easier to manage than jigsaws and dolls clothes.  Cleaners hate sticky
fingers and biscuit/crisp crumbs. (curiously food is often used to bribe
child into silence - as if they cannot survive for half an hour without
sustenance)

Other patients do not like children - unaccompanied parents do not want
to smile or coo at someone else's brat any more than non-parents.  Toys,
if needs must, should be quiet, discrete, clean and remain in a box
(quite the opposite view to the child)

You, the doctor, have a conflict of interests - whilst wishing to appear
child-friendly, you must not encourage repeated visits just to finish
that game or play with your toys, though needing a quiet child you like
tidying no more than anyone else (OCD sufferers excluded), the use of
dolls may help explain to a child, but a selection of headless/legless
Barbie dolls does nothing to inspire confidence (Action Man of course is
built of stronger stuff).

Unlike other replies to Anwar's question, this is not what I do, but
what I would like to do: 
- those tables with loops and beads, fixed to the floor, different sizes
- rearrange the seating, ban food in waiting area, 
- burn the piles of dated dog-eared magazines
- no books - insufficient time to read anything substantial, books are
merely destructable toys in this situation
- cheerful wall coverings (probably precludes bunny posters and health
information material)
- small print in the practice charter that damages will be charged for 

(Oh, and reduce the waiting time?)
-- 
Katie 



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