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I spent a prolonged period recently at the hands of the NHS.
The care I received was generally excellent and the staff were mostly skilled, caring and wonderful but there is one thing that I think the NHS can learn, something which has been a theme every time I have had cause
The care I received was generally excellent and the staff were mostly skilled, caring and wonderful but there is one thing that I think the NHS can learn, something which has been a theme every time I have had cause
to stay in a hospital: humans, especially sick ones need sleep.
Ostensibly the regimen on various wards I visited was that patients would sleep between 2300-0700hrs thus ensuring 8 hours of sleep however, on not a single night during several prolonged stays was this possible.
Ostensibly the regimen on various wards I visited was that patients would sleep between 2300-0700hrs thus ensuring 8 hours of sleep however, on not a single night during several prolonged stays was this possible.
The first problem is scheduled medication, if you need an IV in the middle of the night, you’re getting woken up, this is unavoidable. Some nurses manage this with minimal disturbance using a pen torch, others can only see by the reflection of the 10,000 lumen bed light
shone directly in my startled and bloodshot eyes.
The second problem is observations, again these have to be done, perhaps twice per night or more depending on circumstances, on some wards I found the frequency was dictated by the individual circumstances of the
The second problem is observations, again these have to be done, perhaps twice per night or more depending on circumstances, on some wards I found the frequency was dictated by the individual circumstances of the
patient, on others everyone got the same level for ease of organisation, sometimes care was taken to coincide these with night time medications, other times these were separated for reasons unknown to me. Like medication, some nurses can only perform these by
the light of a thousand suns.
Thirdly are the unnecessary intrusions, I want to stress that most of the staff on the ward tried to minimise these but others (I’m sorry to say largely agency staff) simply did not care. I’ll list them briefly:
Thirdly are the unnecessary intrusions, I want to stress that most of the staff on the ward tried to minimise these but others (I’m sorry to say largely agency staff) simply did not care. I’ll list them briefly:
- You shouldn’t be having a top of your voice jovial conversation next to my bed at 3AM
- My weight might be important but you don’t need to weigh me at 6AM
- The paper towel dispenser on the ward will work without you beating it like a whack-a-mole, so will the bins
- My weight might be important but you don’t need to weigh me at 6AM
- The paper towel dispenser on the ward will work without you beating it like a whack-a-mole, so will the bins
- the curtains around the bed are not sound proof and actually emit sound if you keep crashing into them.
Fourth, every ward has at least one knob head patient (don’t), I don’t mean the confused, in pain or extremely sick crying out in the night (though these don’t help)
Fourth, every ward has at least one knob head patient (don’t), I don’t mean the confused, in pain or extremely sick crying out in the night (though these don’t help)
I mean wilful knob heads, in my world they are cell door kickers, in yours they press the buzzer 10 times a night because they “want a fucking cig” or purposely shit themselves because they’ve abandoned all sense of personal dignity. I’m not sure if there’s anything can actually
be done about these but it may be helpful to know all the factors in play, even those you can’t control.
Fifth is the design of wards, nurses need light to work by on the corridor, patients need darkness to sleep and having these areas separated by large windows without blinds
Fifth is the design of wards, nurses need light to work by on the corridor, patients need darkness to sleep and having these areas separated by large windows without blinds
isn’t ideal.
Sixth are the unexpected, unavoidable interruptions, like a new patient arriving on the ward in the small hours. I’m sure there’s a good reason this person needed to be transferred between hospitals at this time and I understand there are things that need to be
Sixth are the unexpected, unavoidable interruptions, like a new patient arriving on the ward in the small hours. I’m sure there’s a good reason this person needed to be transferred between hospitals at this time and I understand there are things that need to be
done, like transferring them from a trolley to a bed, taking swabs etc etc and that these things require communication but, dear NHS staff, I know you’re focussing on your patient but please try to remember the rest of us and try to keep the noise down if you can.
Something I forgot from my list at point 3 but am too lazy to go back and add
- 3 separate doctors bursting into the assessment room in which I was briefly housed, turning all the lights on, then rummaging through the cupboards looking for a tendon hammer, one even having
- 3 separate doctors bursting into the assessment room in which I was briefly housed, turning all the lights on, then rummaging through the cupboards looking for a tendon hammer, one even having
the cheek to ask me if I knew where it was is simply unacceptable.
Overall I think I averaged about 3 hours of sleep per night, over a period of several weeks this takes its toll.
Overall I think I averaged about 3 hours of sleep per night, over a period of several weeks this takes its toll.
To conclude: I love the NHS, it’s brilliant thanks entirely to the people who work tirelessly within it, but if those people could just take on a few of my points I think I could love it, if not more, then at least with an enthusiasm unavailable to the perennially exhausted
