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Visiting my doctors surgery this week, resulted in a 30 minute wait to be seen, despite having a pre-booked appointment. Others also seemed to be waiting longer than 5-10 minutes for appointments which they presumably turned up on time for.

The time spent waiting to be seen could be put to better use, for both us as patients wanting the best care possible and for the doctors, knowing that they are not compromising their practice values because of limited time allocation for appointments.

One possible solution for putting this redundant time period to use is to begin a patients examination before they've seen the doctor using the passive surgery waiting room furniture as  sensors for ones vital signs.

As the patient enters the surgery, the receptionist checks them in and allocates them to a specific chair. As they sit, reading a book or chatting, the chair takes a number of different statistical values based on their weight, height, blood pressure, pulse rate, temperature, and respiratory rate.

Each sensor would be subtly integrated into the chairs form, and the readings taken without invasive or noticeable collection.

As patient detailed and summary care records are being transferred to a computer system over the next 5 years, each individuals records can be added to as these readings are taken. Therefore, the longer you are waiting or the more you frequent the surgery, the more accurate a picture of your vital signs is built up.

Additionally, as each chair is assigned to a patient, your statistics already in your files, for example a heart condition, are taken into account when the chair is processing the data.

The collected information is then sent directly to the appropriate GP, so by the time you see your doctor she/he already has these statistics, at which point can be further acted upon if necessary.

'Doctors spend on average eight-10 minutes with each patient'; if some of the basic examinations have been carried out before the appointment the time spent with the doctor can be used more effectively.

Relying on a piece of standalone technology may be problematic;  from a user point of view particularly, trusting the equipment to deliver accurate responses.
And if there is a glitch or anomaly, who is to be held responsible?

The lack of accountability, with something as important as personal health is something to be considered.