Lucy ran him through the format for the clinic and he listened carefully.
‘The mothers get sent the appointment automatically?’
‘Yes.’
‘And if they don’t turn up?’
‘They get sent another one,’ Lucy said promptly. ‘And Kim, the health visitor, sometimes follows them up.’
Joel lifted an eyebrow. ‘Sometimes?’
‘Well, chasing non-attenders isn’t really her role,’ Lucy said. ‘Of course, she talks to them all about immunisation at the birth visit, and whenever she sees them, but she doesn’t spend her day chasing after people who don’t turn up.’
‘Right.’ Joel looked at her thoughtfully. ‘So have you had any ideas?’
Lucy blushed. ‘Well, yes…’
‘Go on,’ he prompted, his expression suddenly interested. ‘I want to know what you think.’
Lucy took a deep breath. ‘What I think,’ she said slowly, ‘is that instead of running an immunisation clinic, we should run a child health clinic.’
‘Isn’t that what we do?’
Lucy shook her head. ‘No, it isn’t. We invite mothers to come and have their babies jabbed and that’s it.’
Joel sat down on one of her chairs and looked at her expectantly. ‘So what are you proposing?’
Lucy warmed to her theme. ‘Well, it seems to me that because all we offer is immunisation, if people have any doubts they don’t come. If we widen the scope of the clinic we might attract a different set of people. A child health clinic would be exactly that—a chance to come and talk about your child’s health. A chance to ask all those little questions that worry you but that aren’t enough to make you see a doctor.’
‘But surely those people just ring the health visitor?’
‘No.’ Lucy shook her head again. ‘Usually they just struggle on or ask each other. And that’s the other thing—we could use the clinic as a support network for the mothers. There’s not much going on here in the winter and lots of the new mothers feel isolated. If we run it over the lunchtime and early afternoon, when there are no surgeries, they can chat together and use the waiting room as a meeting place. We can arrange for a speaker once a month and get some extra toys—’ She broke off and he smiled.
‘I can see you’ve really been thinking about this.’
She gave him a hesitant smile. ‘I just think that if we can be a place where mothers meet and drop in with any health worries, we can talk to them about immunisation at the same time. A GP always has to be on the premises when we give the immunisations, so we might as well use you! They can come and see the doctor on a first come, first served basis instead of having to make an appointment.’
Joel was silent for a moment, thinking it through. ‘It’s a good idea. In fact, it’s better than that. It’s a brilliant idea. Have you run it past Dad?’
Lucy shook her head. ‘No. I didn’t really think we could make it work, but now with an extra partner…’
‘Would the health visitors agree, do you think?’
Lucy nodded. ‘I did mention it in passing to Kim and she was all for it. Anything that gets the immunisation rates up.’
‘All right.’ Joel stood up and raked long fingers through his cropped hair. ‘I’ll have a word with Dad, but it sounds a great idea to me.’
‘Let me know what he says.’ Lucy tucked her hair behind her ears and then gasped. ‘Oh—I almost forgot. What do I owe you for sorting out my car?’
He’d dropped the keys round that morning, assuring her that the car was now fine, but he’d dashed off so quickly she’d barely had time to thank him.
‘Nothing. It was a simple problem and it shouldn’t happen again.’
‘Well, thank you.’ She gave a hesitant smile. ‘And thank you for dinner. It was a real treat to be cooked for. Sam and I owe you a meal.’
He shook his head. ‘You don’t owe me anything,’ he said slowly. ‘Friends cook each other meals all the time. It’s no big deal.’
‘I’d really like to. Sam’s favourite gourmet treat is sausages.’ She was laughing now. ‘I assume that would meet with your approval?’