What Belongs in a GP Home-Visit Bag
A home-visit bag is a compromise between what you might need and what you can carry. The useful discipline is to pack by function and check it before every round rather than after.
Examination
- Stethoscope — stethoscopes
- Sphygmomanometer with at least two cuff sizes — sphygmomanometers
- Thermometer with probe covers — thermometers
- Pulse oximeter
- Otoscope and ophthalmoscope, battery-powered rather than charge-dependent — diagnostic sets
- Diagnostic penlight with a pupil gauge — penlights
- Reflex hammer and tuning fork — neurological testing
- Tongue depressors, gloves, alcohol wipes
Measurement and testing
- Glucometer with in-date strips and lancets
- Urine dipsticks
- Tape measure — tape measures
Procedures
- Dressings, tape, bandage scissors — scissors and shears
- Sterile gloves, antiseptic
- Sharps container — non-negotiable; never carry loose sharps
- Specimen containers and swabs
Emergency minimum
What you carry depends on your scope and local protocol, but most home-visit bags include a pocket mask or bag-valve-mask, and an airway adjunct.
Packing principles
- Group by function, not by object type. Everything for a dressing change in one module.
- Heaviest at the bottom, nearest the spine if it is a backpack.
- Frequently used on top. Stethoscope and BP cuff should not be under the dressings.
- Contents list taped inside the lid, so restocking does not depend on memory.
Before every round
Check expiry dates on anything dated, battery level on every powered device, and that consumables used on the last round were replaced. The failure mode is not forgetting an item — it is discovering the glucometer strips expired last month.
Bags are in doctor's bags and medical bags and kits. See the full bags guide.
A general list, not a clinical protocol. Contents should follow your own scope of practice and local guidance.