Barbering and nails whilst in hospital?

[FILhip]

A relative had a stroke 2mths ago and is still in an NHS hospital. They have had neither a hair cut nor nails/toe nails trimmed whilst there. Staff have no idea if they have a mobile hairdresser come on site. What normally happens for long term in-patients? Should we organise a mobile barber and podiatrist to visit or is this something PALs could organise?

NHS view it as not their responsibility. We had to arrange it for my mum and I was surprised that they didn't even have details for anyone local who would do either of those. I can understand on an acute ward but this was a rehab unit where most people are for a couple of months or more.

I took in clippers. My DM's needed doing and I was really surprised the staff didn't keep them tidy.

The lady in the bed next to her asked me to do hers too, next day she's disappeared and my DM was convinced I'd finished her off.

Again, stroke ward, so in-patient for a considerable amount of time.

I don’t know why you’ve left it that long to cut their nails? Just do it yourself. Ask around for a mobile hairdresser.

Do her nails yourself. Ask PALS about a mobile hairdresser. DM was paralysed in hospital for months after strokes and we organised a mobile hairdresser via Pals. They can use a special inflatable sink for the head of the bed to catch the water if she's bed bound. We found the nurses barely washed DM or cleaned her teeth, let alone washed her hair.

We use to have a mobile hairdresser but since covid they havnt returned. Regarding nails in our trust we are allowed to cut them however the scissors are rubbish maybe best to take some clippers in and do them yourself

These threads are so depressing. what happens to patients who don't have family to fill in the gaps

Im a nurse on an elderly ward and we’re not allowed to touch nails, it’s policy. It’s due to causing infections that can lead to toe loss etc if it goes funny, especially in diabetics but we just have a blanket ban. We also don’t cut hair, it’s up to relatives to organise private podiatry etc.

After a big RTA I had to repeatedly ask for my hair to be washed as there was blood caked in it. I was not offered a bed bath until two and a half weeks in hospital after I was moved to a rehab unit. All my clothes were removed at the scene of the accident. I was so filthy that the rehab gave me a bucket to soak my feet in.

Maybe I should've been vociferous about this but tbh I was bed bound with a catheter and was just glad to be alive and it's a very disempowering experience.

There were 2 staff on at night in an orthopaedic trauma unit in a major teaching hospital.

It was during the pandemic so no visitors.

I've only seen them once due to several factors including distance! MIL only mentioned it to me today that he'd neither had a hair cut nor nails trimmed.

@Strawberriesandpimms Do her nails yourself. This is my step father-in-law. I don't feel comfortable clipping his toe nails and giving him a pedicure!

Thank you everyone. Some good ideas.

Reading other replies and the title again, my response seems odd. It was just a lack of personal care that I found surprising.

Ask for a shower /hair cap. You put it on the head and it's like a shower cap and massage it for a couple of minutes, remove it and the hair is clean, they're amazing. The nurses won't do it but every hospital.yum has been in has had cupboards of them so do ask.

I'm afraid those tasks are outside of a nursing remit. Washing hair yes, cutting it is a no, nails are a bit of a grey area. If they are diabetic the podiatrist will do it but not otherwise. On our long stay dementia ward one of our lovely HCAs had fortunately been a hairdresser and beautician in a previous life and would cut hair and do nails and plucking etc for extra cash outside of NHS time. It was very much valued by families and those of the patients able to express a view. No idea what will happen if she ever retires as it needs a special skill set to manage to do it in some cases. If someone really didn't have any family or any money then we'd usually manage to pay from the ward budget as it is a matter of dignity.

Thank you. I was aware nurses aren't allowed to trim nails.
MIL asked if she could bring a mobile barber in to be told it wouldn't be allowed on the ward due to the hair. I can understand this too, so maybe wheeling him into the garden is the only option? MIL said she felt that staff had never been asked about barber or podiatry services, or how to contact any.

Couldn't a hair cut wait until they're home me?

Obviously hair washing, shaving, nail cutting and hygiene should be kept ontop of but leaving hair to grow a bit even if it's to be clipped back can't harm can it.

What if someone doesn't have relatives to sort this or they don't think to do it. I don't think it's ok to just go "not our responsibility". If you aren't going to do it, there needs to be back up services organised by someone appropriate in the hospital for people unable to do it themselves. In care homes, they have people coming in to do hair cuts and podiatry etc. Long term hospital care should be doing similar. I appreciate that the NHS is struggling but that's no reason to just accept substandard care. We should be challenging it wherever it's seen. All patients deserve their dignity.

That is appalling. You must have stunk - how could they leave you in that state (probably because they were run off their feet I suspect but that is so unacceptable). I hope you complained after you were discharged? Sorry that happened to you that must have been horrendous.

If I hadn’t cleaned my Mum’s dentures they never would have been clean. I also had to cream her legs (prescription moisturiser because of very dry skin) and help her to eat. The one time I wasn’t there for her lunch, it remained uneaten on the table till I arrived, because there was no-one to help her, or they hadn’t noticed she couldn’t manage. It seems like the practical tasks of actually looking after patients are sometimes forgotten in the now high tech world of medicine, where nursing staff are more likely to be in front of a computer at the nurses station than tending to a patient’s needs.

They don't know when he will be discharged and whether that will be back home or to a care home. The actual hair cutting is the least of the worries, although its been nearly 4mths since he has a trim!

According to MIL, he 'at most'- had his hair washed twice in 2mths! I really don't know how true this is though. He requires hoisting due to the stroke and has mainly been given a bed baths. The toe nails are an issue as causing discomfort in his slippers now.

I understand what you're saying OP, but ultimately if they do this it's probably half an hour to an hour per person, it all adds up and that means less time on actual medical care

I don't think you do understand at all. No one was asking medical staff to do this though! The family simply asked the medical staff if they knew of a mobile barber or podiatry service they could pay for to come to the hospital.

Can't your mil cut his nails? Or google a mobile podiatrist. It's not great and imagine if he had no one to advocate for him. The hygiene/hair wash stuff is really horrible. No wonder patients end up with infections

Same experience with my grandfather. Nursing has gone to absolute shit.

I don't understand why nurses don't do something about this. I'm sorry but I don't care how stretched the NHS is, it's inhumane and they must see the state that they're leaving patients in. Particularly elderly, vulnerable patients who cannot speak up for themselves or otherwise get support.

I did Dad's nails once a week and googled a local mobile hairdresser who came every month.

Also clipped his nose hairs, cleaned his glasses etc NHS won't do it, understandably so.

It's not the fault of the nurses. This is the reality of the NHS at the moment. It's awful.

But the family should be doing this, why should the taxpayer be funding this additional care.