NHS in crises - the patient

There aren't enough private rooms, so they have to be prioritised for infection control reasons, and the dying. There is also a very strong argument that patients with dementia are safer in open bays, where they can be seen, rather than out of sight in side rooms. And yes, I've been in an open bay, with patients who clearly had dementia, when admitted acutely. This is despite actually being a consultant in the same hospital: there isn't a secret store of hidden side rooms.

@mathanxiety you do realise people give birth in private rooms and then go to a ward?

Side rooms are a nightmare logistically to manage and unsafe, how can I see if you have collapsed if you are behind a closed door? As the nurse/midwife in charge, I want to see you to assess you, but pardon me for being concerned

I’ve had experience of that exact same situation. Lady was packing her pillow case for a ‘flight’ constantly. She didn’t appear distressed, chatting away but very unsteady. Nurses didn’t do anything a far as I could see aside from chat at their station. It was fellow patients that helped this woman eat and get her back into bed.
Eventually she fell and was then moved.

We also had a biscuit muncher, sat most of the night noisily smashing biscuits into her face and crinkling packets (not dementia).

Another lady had what sounded like cancer and couldn’t eat and the nurse kept telling her to burp in order to eat more and get an appetite from the smell of the burp- absolutely bizarre. Must have said the word ‘burp’ very loudly, 100 times a day. Poor lady was mortified. Gave me the rage. I’ll go private and be thankful next time.

Hope you get better soon op, in the meantime ear defenders perhaps.

I gave birth in a civilized country where everyone gets a private or semi private room.

The more women are shamed for expecting to receive a basic level of appropriate care after major abdominal surgery - which includes the ability to rest and heal - or privacy while trying to establish breastfeeding, the less likely it is that these basic standards will be achieved.

If you're going to be in a while and you can, get some sleep headphones. They're like a soft material headband and contain flat headphones so you can sleep with them on. They have saved me in noisy situations as they have Bluetooth and you can hook them upto your phone and play rain sounds etc., . They're cheap, maybe 20 quid on amazon and worth every penny.

I'm a light sleeper so totally sympathise. Wishing you a speedy recovery.

Ear plugs.

Op in my experience of an NHS ward and of visiting a relative in a mental health ward there is often someone crying out loud at night and sadly often they do have dementia. At first I didn't understand why someone didn't comfort them then I realised it was dementia. It's hard to listen to. Hospitals aren't the best places to spend a lot of time- the best thing you can focus on is getting yourself well and on trying to stay out of hospital in future

My Dd at 16yo was very poorly, nearly died and was admitted to a ward where she spent 5 days. There was an elderly lady in the bed opposite who had dementia and would sometimes try to stand up on her bed.

after a couple of days when Dd was feeling a bit better she would do and sit at times and talk to her. Or buzz for the nurses if she was worried she was going to fall off the bed. I’m not saying it’s right that another patient had to help like that, but Dd was happy to and I was proud of her compassion. Obviously not all patients will be well enough themselves to help like that.

But this is a major reason a dementia patient can’t be kept in a side room, they need to be somewhere more visible. Nurses, etc are in and out the bay and keep more of an eye on them and other patients may also call for help. In a side room she could fall out of bed, crack her head open and be dead on the floor for an hour before she’s found!

Also the side rooms will be for the dying (if you’re lucky), the infectious.

But also - the staff need to be able to see this patient and monitor her closely I imagine, which misty be harder in a private room. She is also extremely vulnerable.

where we are the (very few) private rooms are for people who are actively dying or very infectious - eg. Someone who has got norovirus or Covid and is a risk of spreading it to the rest of the bay.

I found this out when I was out on a ward with mothers and babies when mine had sepsis and was in NICU and I was recovering from a serious complication. I was told I wasn’t infectious so nope.

She's a patient just like you.

In a private room (which are usually for those either dying or needed to be isolated because of infection) the staff couldn't keep watch on her if she were to need help as if she's so confused she wouldn't be able to summon help herself

The NHS is a public service that we all pay for, we’re allowed to complain about it. OP didn’t say anything bad about the lady with dementia, that’s you projecting.

Hospital is a place where you receive medical care, part of that care is aiding recovery, which sleep is a very important part of.

I understand your concerns but private rooms are very scarce. My daughter who has been a doctor for three years now has struggled to get rooms for peoole who are dying to give them and their family some privacy.

She does her very best but the service is on its knees.

How awful of those midwives to be helping new mums breast feed their babies. The sheer audacity of it all, those babies wanting to be fed and those mums for trying to meet their needs. Just awful.

It's not safe to have a lady with I presume severe dementia out of sight in a side room on her own. How distressing that would be for her, and she is also at risk of climbing/falling out of the bed and getting a serious injury. She would need to be watched closely which is why she is in a bay.

Ah, I get it. It wasn’t obvious to me you were satirising a viperish comment rather than just making one.

That’s the joke, @DadJoke …

I hear you OP, many new-build hospitals are all single rooms but from a nursing point of view this must be harder to manage. It's all very well saying dementia patients should be on a separate ward but that's not what happens. A patient who breaks their hip is on an orthopedic ward, if they have dementia that's not what they're in hospital for. Very few dementia patients are in hospital because of the dementia - they are there because they have some other condition which needs hospital treatment.

Having said that, it IS hugely disruptive for everyone else, my dad had dementia and was very very shouty and agitated in hospital because he was away from everything he recognised. He was in a single room (everyone else was too) but having that sort of patient on the ward is still disruptive.

I hope you're feeling better soon OP.

And likely someone else is in that private room now.

So the NHS prevented you from dying from sepsis, and you are complaining about your accommodation. You are clearly on the road to recovery!

I do get it though - I have been there.

The NHS is underfunded, has low capital expenditure and is clogged up because our social care system is screwed. However, it’s admin fees are very low (1.9%) Until we have investment in new hospitals and properly funded social care, it will continue.

There are very few illnesses which prevent a conscious person typing on their phone.

The ignorance is astounding.

OK, I’ll ignore your ignorant comments about NHS managers and shareholders (WTF?) and sympathise with the shitshow in which you find yourself.

At the moment the best we can expect is good clinical care. Peace and quiet is a pipe dream. Make good choices at the ballot box.

My advice, from when DH was in your position, is to order yourself some ear plugs and maybe headband ear phones, and download some audiobooks and podcasts, preferably boring droning ones, that can help you drift if not actually sleep.

Being angry is not helping your recovery (although being angry is a good sign, if I recall….) - you need to zone out the rest of the ward and focus on your own little world.

OP, I feel sorry for you. Being in hospital is horrendously and frightening and a grave condition such as sepsis must have been terrifying.

I was in hospital for heart issues a couple of years ago and on a temporary ward when admitted. I remember wondering if I would make it, how to tell the children and being scared on a high dependency mixed ward.

There was also a lady with dementia there (no idea why as she was maybe the only one without lots of equipment attached to her). She was constantly shouting and walking around, it made me even more exhausted and frightened than I already was.

i think OP is getting a hard time here. She is exhausted, possibly still scared and cannot sleep. She is allowed to have a moan about that.

I completely agree.

My husband took him to a&e on wed evening was given fluid and pain killers via drip in a waiting room and sent home being told virus 10 hours later.

The following day he was worse. He didn't want to go back so had an appointment with a 111 GP who called an ambulance as he was meeting red flag sepsis signs. We got to hospital at 5am and treatment for sepsis started. He had a ct scan and was admitted but still no bed so was sitting in a chair from 5am friday until 3pm yesterday so 34 hours.

Hope you feel better soon.