An elderly parent who cannot manage the stairs.
Someone who cannot be moved.
A fever that will not settle.
Getting someone frail into a car, through a waiting room and back again can be harder on them than the illness.
Post-surgery, post-discharge, a fracture, or anyone on bed rest.
Three days in, nobody is sure whether this needs a test, a drip, or just time. A doctor at the bedside can tell you.
More than one person unwell in the same house.
A catheter or tube that needs changing.
Late at night, or early.
One visit, everybody seen.
Routine, and miserable to travel for.
We run from 6 am, and the last visit goes out towards midnight.
What the doctor can do at your house
This is the part most home-visit services cannot offer, because they send a nurse and a nurse cannot do several of these alone.
Full examination, diagnosis and a prescription
Urinary catheter — insertion, removal or a change
Ryle's tube (nasogastric) insertion
IV cannula and a drip set up and monitored
Dressings and wound care, simple or complex
Suturing a wound, and suture removal
ECG at the bedside
Blood samples taken there and then — free collection, reports to your phone
Injections and vaccinations
A decision on whether a hospital is needed, and help getting you there