Men on gynae ward

[roarityroar]

Yesterday I was taken into hospital after heavy bleeding. I needed a blood transfusion and then went into theatre for surgery. They ask you to keep all sanitary pads to show how much you're bleeding, which is obviously very personal and after the general anaesthetic I felt groggy and vulnerable.

There are 4 beds in this ward with curtains. Two of the other three women have their partners here. I feel pretty vulnerable as it is and given it's the gynaecology ward AIBU to really not want random non-HCP men just a curtain away when I'm bleeding from my sodding vagina?

How are those figures obtained? Do they do random surveys or something?

I'm with brummisue! Never seen this in all my years of NHS hospital visiting - unless it's life and death - visiting hours apply

I am so sad to read these tales

Treaclesoda people voluntarily fill in survey forms (hospital encourages people to do so). They say whether they would recommend the hospital/ward based on their experience. Figures are collated nationally and published by NHS England. There is also an annual NHS inpatient survey. Figures are always surprisingly high given number of stories the media publishes to the contrary. Your experience is certainly not that common.

Thanks Crumbs, I'd never heard of that before.

I'm not in England (although I am in the UK), which is maybe why I hadn't heard of it. I'm not sure if they do anything similar here in terms of feedback.

I've done a bit more googling to try to find comparable statistics for my area. The most recent I can find are about 4 years old but sadly they are nowhere near the 95% figure for maintaining dignity and privacy, or for being treated in single sex areas. So that probably explains why my experience, and that of friends and family, have been similar.

On the other hand though, privacy and dignity at outpatients clinics scored outstandingly well. So they're certainly doing a lot of things right.

Ah treaclesoda, no it's England only.

I was on a four bed ward having had a miscarriage. The three others were recovering from sterilisation or hysterectomy ops. They had to witness my tears, my purging and my noisy commode activity with visitors in tow. Prostogladin is an evil bastard thing when it takes hold. I was absolutely mortified. During non vomit/purging moment, one husband passed me some tissues and some magazines. I cannot tell you how much that meant to me. Visit people in hospital, you get the full ward experience after all, it is for sick people. I apologised for any offence caused my noise and smell and the ladies told me they were jealous of my ability to pass wind as they were in post op wind agony! It cheered up a crap experience and the men were really understanding. Dignity goes out of the window. I don't fight it anymore.

A cynic might wonder if high self reported patient satisfaction is partially a reflection of being conditioned to be grateful and simpering about the NHS no matter how bad it gets, as reflected in thread after thread on MN.

As Treacle said the government seems invested in ensuring that most people mistakenly believe that the only health care models in existence are the NHS, the American model, or nothing at all... Perhaps in order to bring in the American model when they finally finish totally destroying the NHS through underfunding and mismanagement. Nobody says anything as it runs into the ground because - as has been expressed on this thread - there is an attitude that complaining will hasten its destruction and everyone should be desperately grateful it exists at all, rather than speaking up about the problems in the hope they'll be fixed.

5moreminutes, you could think that but the NHS inpatient survey would suggest otherwise. That's conducted well after patients have left hospitals. All statistians/analysts would say people are far more likely to engage if they've had a negative experience. People 'report' bad experience so media reports etc are skewed in that direction. Go on NHS choices website - people actively have to decide to find site and comment. Still overwhelming majority are positive. Scores tend to be around 4.5/5. Comments are lovely to read (I do it for work).
There are, of course, lots of other models but they all cost far more and deliver worst outcomes.
Kings fund talks about the myth of declining NHS
www.kingsfund.org.uk/topics/nhs-reform/mythbusters/nhs-performance

I did one of those surveys and was positive on it. Despite being put on a bay (which wasn't ideal but couldn't be helped) the staff were amazing.

5moreminutes A cynic might wonder if high self reported patient satisfaction is partially a reflection of being conditioned to be grateful and simpering about the NHS no matter how bad it gets, as reflected in thread after thread on MN.

That might be a reasonable theory if you were looking at MN posts, but as Crumbs points out, in actual patient satisfaction ratings people are generally more likely to engage with reporting back if they've had a negative experience.

I had a wonderful hospital experience recently, no sign of NHS under strain either (although I appreciate it was a brief snapshot). Enough nurses/HCAs, pleasant ward, food etc. I liked being on a bay and not in a private room too, because the other patients were lovely... Anyway I felt quite emotional about it all afterwards, because it just seemed amazing to be having surgery performed by a top specialist because I needed it, not because I had the right money/insurance etc. And because the surgeon in question has specific reasons for wanting to work in the NHS and in this particular speciality, rather than private healthcare (or another area of medicine).

OTOH I will freely bitch about mental health services any time you like... People report their actual experiences.

Maybe we all love the NHS because it's sort of a leveller (although maybe less so now), compared to our ingrained class system!

Found the international comparator for those thinking NHS is failing.

The NHS deserves praise. A lot of people are still alive because of it.

Hi all - I just want to point out that the OP has later clarified in a post that only one male visitor actually stayed overnight - the one who came in with his partner after 10pm. The next person who stayed for most of the time was a patient and partner who arrived after 8am the next day. So it's not a case of visiting hours being thrown out the window nor is it a case of many men wandering the ward. In this example it's one man visiting one woman.