Doctors will get standing desks as part of trial

Most of us are used to the familiar greeting of ‘please take a seat’ at the beginning of a GP appointment.

But that may soon become a thing of the past under a scheme to introduce standing appointments across the NHS.

A group of GPs will be given convertible standing desks next year as part of a pilot study conducted by Loughborough University.

It is hoped that the standing appointments will make GPs ‘role models’ for patients, helping both patient and doctor become more active.

But the Royal College of GPs warned it was important that patients – especially those with mobility issues – are not made to feel uncomfortable.

Amanda Daley, professor of behavioural medicine at the Loughborough University, said the standing appointments will be for adults only and that patients will still be able to sit if they wish.

She said: ‘Historically, GPs and patients sit during consultations to facilitate good doctor-patient rapport – we have all heard the familiar greeting from our GPs to “take a seat”.

‘But we also know that GPs spend a long time sitting down during the working day – which can contribute to poor health outcomes – and evidence suggests that doctors often neglect their own health.

‘Therefore, we need to find ways of getting GPs on their feet and moving more often. Standing consultations could help GPs to be more active, as well as highlighting to patients the importance of reducing and breaking up their sitting time.’

Professor Daley added: ‘We want the GPs to be standing in their job… but obviously the extra bit is also being a role model to getting the patients to be more active, or certainly standing more.

‘So we are hoping we get a double win.’

Researchers will ask around 500 GPs across the UK their views around introducing standing consultations in the new year.

From spring, a group of GPs in the Midlands will wear ActivPAL activity trackers on their thighs to provide objective data about their movements during and after the working day.

They will be given the desks to use in 30-40 half-day sessions over four to six weeks.

GPs will be asked about their wellbeing, productivity at work and activity level before and after they have used the desks.

Patients will also be quizzed when they leave their consultations.

The desks, which cost around £2,000, can switch between standing and seated formats in seconds with the push of a button.

GPs will be able to use their discretion as to whether they stay standing for the appointment.

For patients who are elderly, frail, pregnant, disabled or about to receive bad news, it may be more appropriate to be seated.

Professor Daley added: ‘If you come in for a repeat prescription there’s no reason to sit, sitting just takes up more time, so it might be that for certain types of consultation it makes things quicker, and for others it’s just not appropriate.

‘For example, if someone comes in for bad news or a cancer diagnosis, you might just want to sit.’

Helen Stokes-Lampard, chair of the Royal College of GPs, said: ‘Standing consultations could be an effective way of having productive and beneficial conversations with some of our patients, particularly around “lifestyle” issues and highlighting the need for us all to reduce our sitting time and move more.

‘However, we need to be mindful that the GP-patient consultation relies on high quality, face to face, communication and in some cases, this will not be achieved if the GP is standing while their patient is sitting down.

‘There might be cases where it is appropriate for the GP and patient to carry out the consultation while they are both standing up, but for many of our patients who have complex needs or mobility problems, this will not be an option, and indeed some GPs will not be physically able to participate in this way.

‘It is also important that our patients are never made to feel uncomfortable as a consequence of this or any other well-meaning initiative.’