What happens when royals end up in NHS hospitals I wonder?

[Ohdosodoffdear]

I saw that Princess Anne has ended up in a Bristol hospital. Just idly wondering how that works, would she be given the best room, have police on the door etc?

What would happen about the protocols of greeting a royal, obviously an unplanned occasion so the staff wouldn't know, would they just say "come this way please Anne".

Anyone been involved in anything like this before?

I worked at Southmead. It’s very new and has nearly all individual rooms with en-suite bathrooms.
She’ll be seen by consultants, and looked after by a senior nurse. The managers will keep popping by to check all is ok.

If I could afford whatever home medical care I wanted, I wouldn't stay in hospital longer than I needed to.
I thought that when Kate stayed in hospital for two weeks - she could have had round the clock care at home so the fact she didn't probably meant hospital was necessary.

Quite - nor be stuck in A&E for 9 hours waiting to be 'triaged'.

It's not current, OP, but any biography of Charles will cover the period he was in hospital after breaking his arm at polo. Private ward, food brought in etc.

I don’t think they keep anyone in hospital longer than absolutely necessary. They need the beds and risk of infection. It would cause even more chaos than normal if she was on a trolley.
One of the reasons for very long waits is that the NHS is pretty good for things like head trauma and absolute emergencies. However it is not then funded for the other vital things including things that can be life changing and very painful like strokes and broken hips.

Agree with @ssd

Totally. But if you’re non medical and the hospital staff are erring on the side of caution and say you need to be in hospital for observation then maybe you’d stay? Because if you’re at home and suddenly develop a bleed on the brain the time it takes you to get back to hospital and in to theatre could make a massive difference. But maybe a risk lesser mortals have to take?

I'm no monarchist but I have a friend who works in a London hospital , NHS, much favoured by celebs because of where it is and she says its not the royals who cause resentment, it's the politicians. Who are uniformly rude and disruptive and ungrateful. Although members of the house of Lords are not like this for some reason.
I've always liked Anne I remember her competing in the Olympics when I was a child, she was utterly fearless.

Most NHS hospitals, have a private wing, these rooms usually have en suite facilities etc. I was admitted as an emergency over Easter once, as there was no planned surgery over the Easter holidays, I was transferred to the private ward, different world!

Is this joke? Is anyone allowed flowers in hospital?

that is interesting, i also read that on another thread, it is a fairly new, 10 year old, hospital

It's sickening that someone is higher risk of being attacked because of who they were born as.
As a poster above said, a police commissioner had the same protocols.
Everyone has a right to be safe and have privacy while being treated in hospital, so if someone is at risk of that not happening then that needs to be managed appropriately.

I also highly doubt anyone who has been kicked in the head by a horse is sat waiting. That's usually the people who have gone in with something minor. Anyone I know who has gone in with an actual emergency has been seen straight away.

Bet she wasn't parked in a corridor over night as there was no bed on a ward like my mother was, which wouldn't be so bad except then the beds aren't hooked up to controls so patients can't buzz for help when they need the loo etc.

My mum was in Southmead hospital a month or two ago and had her own room and excellent kind care. She is not royalty but an old lady living on the state pension

Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't want Princess Anne or anyone stuck in a corridor. And I also think she should get NHS treatment if she needs it and not have people gawping. It's just the current situation that annoys me, something needs to be done urgently. I don't think conservatives will ever get in again after the mess we're all left in.

My MIL is now on her third day sat on a A&E chair, still with a drip, I can't actually believe how bad things have got, hopefully they can find a bed today.

It won't improve until there is a complete overhaul of the set up. We have an aging population with increasing health issues, but have kept the provision the same.
Even if we fix bed blocking due to lack of care home spaces there are still an unsustainable amount of these sorts of cases where people are kept in for ivs or antibiotics for infections whilst needing minimal observation.
If people are stable and just finishing minor treatment then there needs to be an alternative provision where a nurse visits but its primarily beds and care staff.

My sister worked at the hospital where Prince Charles had an operation to fix his broken arm over 30 years ago.
A whole ward was emptied of people and decorated for him, he praised the NHS, people were pissed off for his preferential treatment, but he had no idea, and I doubt there was any need to freshly paint the place in order for him to have a quick operation.

There’s obviously a need for privacy and security, but they also get quicker and better treatment (can’t imagine Princess Anne being shoved a sick bowl and left in pain for hours on end), which further divides us all.

Agree. And the fact the Royal family can pay for care.

She will have inmates from the local men's and womens prisons in with her. It's where they are treated if the prison cannot treat them.

I got my own room after I had my daughter as my husband is a police officer in case someone he arrested was on the ward. Midwife told me not to go up to the ward until I’d been allocated a room. So you don’t have to be at all famous!

She may well have gone in privately. If not, our local hospital has a private ward - it also acts as an overflow ward for NHS patients so if there was an NHS patient in there, I guess they'd try and move them so Princess Anne could easily have security outside her door.

I'd be interested to know what happens if there isn't a bed though and how long she had to wait in the triage/assessment area. I wonder if she was offered cornflakes or cold toast for breakfast, then a watery soup for lunch.

SW working in Child Protection also get allocated their own rooms on maternity units, for obvious reasons.

It's striking that members of the royal family so often open new hospitals or new wings, and unveil a plaque with their name on it, but it's headline news if they actually use one of these hospitals.

This. I work in the hospital she's in, not on the same ward though. On my ward we have a permanent corridor of elderly patients. I don't agree with vip treatment at all.

There will be a plan in the major incident planning for what happens if the King / Prime Minister/ significant royals come in. It’s usually called Operation Consort or similar.
it will involve sectioning off an area as required for security but keeping the rest of the department functioning. That’s for A&E. A neuro transfer from another hospital would be easier. Find a suitable bed available then transfer. Security will be the top priority.
Southmead is a tertiary centre for neurosurgery so she will be getting good care

Zara was brought to the cottage hospital where I worked when she fell off her pony at pony club, no fuss and bother except a security officer being discretely present. She was collected by Mark Philips.
I hope Princess Anne recovers quickly, a head injury is nasty at any age.