Medical equipment for office and home visiting

Throughout my training, the only piece of medical equipment I owned was my trusty stethoscope. Hospital rotations would always have an ample supply of medical equipment either on the wards or in clinic rooms. Similarly, GP practices would usually provide a doctor’s bag with the necessary equipment and, if I needed any further pieces of kit, I could rely on my trainer or another colleague to lend me theirs. Shortly after qualification, I swiftly recognised I needed my own doctors bag. Unable to find an official minimum standard of medical equipment for GPs, I purchased a few items that I thought would be necessary. Alas, over the last couple of years as my clinical experience has grown, so has the size of my doctor’s bag. This article aims to establish a standard of medical equipment for clinicians working in general practice with some additional personal insights.