87yo mum in mens ward

[marvellousmaple]

Am I the only one that thinks this is inappropriate. I am planning on making a complaint to the hospital and health minister as my poor mum was wearing a gown and paper pants and the men were wearing a gown and from a quick glance dirty pants.
I asked for her to be moved and was told " a bed is a bed". She refused to sleep there in the end ( long after I had left ) and they had to get a psych in to calm her down as she didn't want to sleep in a room with strange men.
I don't blame her.
This is Australia btw but was wondering if people think I am unreasonable to complain or just be thankful she is treated for " free".

Hope she is home soon. But your right to complain especially as they ignored and played down her uncomfort at the situation

That’s awful, marvellous. Did the psych end up drugging her to “calm her down”?

What’s the situation in Australia? It sounds like you have separate wards but no requirement for the hospital to stick to it? Any chance she’ll get moved when a bed frees up?

I'm in Oz too , I've had a couple of " co- ed" hospital experiences but I'm young enough to be unbothered by it. Pull the curtains, no problem. But I get that an elderly lady could be upset. The staff should have done a bed move rather than getting a psych to " calm her down"

Most public beds are co- Ed these days, it's all about housing the most patients as possible. Not like the good ol' days of designated male and female wards.

I hope your mum is doing well.

The Oz situation is that most public wards are mixed sex, to ensure that the most number of patients get a bed. Thoughtful staff will move people around so at least some patients get a single-sex room ( most wards have mainly 4-bedded rooms). This lady should have been moved, but the staff might have been too busy or too thoughtless to do that.

A long time ago in New Zealand, I was put in an overflow ward that was mixed my teenage son was with me and most unhappy with the situation.

So I asked him to close the curtains shortly after a nurse asked us to open them as it was spoiling the view for others ( 2 beds away from the window ) I said of course if the men put pajama pants on ( supplied by the hospital ) as they were all walking around in their boxers, of course, they wouldn't and the curtains stayed closed.

What I'm trying to get across is that my teenage son spoke up straight away with his concerns about the men.

The men in the ward thought I was a man-hater and were most surprised when my first visitor was male.

I'm not much of a complainer, more of a people pleaser but in this situation I would complain.
My mum spent Christmas in hospital and she found it so stressful, being away from her home, being poorly, not being able to sleep, stopped eating etc.
If they'd put my mum on a mens ward I'd have complained.
I hope you get it sorted and really hope your mum recovers ❤️

Gosh this sounds even worse than the U.K. YANBU at all. This is totally unacceptable, especially if the men are similar to those in @nzborn’s weed and walking around practically naked.

*ward

Thanks everyone. She has just come home so I don't know whether to complain or not but I thought it was terrible that she struggled up to get out of bed to say goodbye to my DH and her whole backside ( with paper pants) were visible for the 3 men in the ward. As I said I don't want to see an old man with clearly dirty pants , it's certainly not something I want my mum to see. And yes, the amount of time and effort to get the "psych" - that's all I've been told who it was - I also wasn't told who her doctor was , or any results. Super cranky about the whole thing.

Please do complain, for everyone coming after her.
Was there a side room she could have gone in ?
I worked on a female ward many years ago. We had to take some men as there were far more in than women. In the night a male with SEN got in bed with one of the elderly women, she was heard screaming. Both were failed that night, yet mixed wards are normal now. It’s not acceptable.

By 'young enough not to be bothered' do you mean you're a really cool person who thinks this is fine and normal; or that you are physically fit enough to fight off a man who gets into your bed and tries to sexually assault you?

They offered to make her up a bed in the hall!! That was it. Then they got the "psych". Thank goodness she is home. Yes I think I will complain as that is not acceptable . The even more annoying thing is that she has been payin an extortionate amount for top health insurance her entire life - and the hospital even said to her on entry ( Please bill this to your insurance company so it doesn't come out of our budget) which she did. It gets you nothing extra though. Such a waste of money for all these decades for her. I was going to move her to a private hospital tomorrow but as she is home I guess all is ok.