"Renal Clinic Waiting Room"

I recently supported my adult son who has complex learning difficulties to his renal clinic appointment. I usually sit beside him and draw pictures or read to him, to distract him whilst we are waiting. However in the new Covid safe waiting area, all seats are 2 metres apart. My son needs someone to sit beside him. 

I sat my son in the chair in the wheelchair user space and asked the receptionist if I could move a seat to be beside my son. She sent for the nurse who said for infection control all seats have to be 2 metres apart.

I therefore had to kneel beside my son during our wait to see the nurse and then our wait to see the doctor. I am a pensioner.

I didn't want to make a fuss as I didn't want to make my son more anxious than he already was.If my son had been in a wheelchair I could have sat beside him. It shows a complete ignorance of Disability and a shocking lack of Disability Awareness. It is awful that a health care setting is so ignorant of disability. Not all disabled out patients who need support will be in a wheelchair.  I need to sit beside my son when I support him to hospital appointments.

When we saw the doctor in the consulting room imagine my surprise to find that the 2 seats were together and I could sit beside my son. So in the waiting room we must be 2 metres apart even though I drive my son to his appointment but once with doctor we don't need to be 2 metres apart. It doesn't show much joined up thinking. When having his blood tests done the nurse who had told me I could not move a seat to be beside my son, told me it was the Infection Control department who insisted that the chairs were 2 metres apart. It smacks of Disability Discrimination to me . We had the same experience on our clinic visit in September.  The whole experience was extremely distressing.