Privacy on the Hospital Ward

The last time I was in hospital 18 months ago I was taken in in the middle of the night and in the next bed was a Polish girl. It was in the middle of lockdown so nobody was allowed visitors but this girl had a visitor for 2 hours talking constantly. I couldn’t see as the curtains were drawn but it turned out to be a nurse from the same country enjoying a chat at 2 o’clock in the morning!

Another peson who detests the idea of single rooms, particlarly if you are bed-bound. One time, many years ago, when I was hospitalised after a very bad accident, they suggested putting me into a single room, so that my family of young children could visit easily. I burst into tears at the suggestion. I was not even allowed to sit up at the time, and was so much better off with the ambulatory patients on the ward who would come and talk to me each time they passed my bed on their way to loos, bathroom, etc.

Obviously, for many the old Nightignale Wards are not good, but the 4 bedded areas that most of these have been turned into work well for many of us. Okay, no private loos, but a lot more of these and washing opportunties. Mixed wards are a total No No for me.

Glorianni, After 11pm one night a man in ordinary outdoor clothes walked up the ward . When night nurse came round with the meds trolley I told her a strange man had just walked up to the top of the ward. Nurse said with a sad smile that there was "open visiting". The security was shocking.

Just spotted a few errors - please ignore.
Must remember to proof read before posting. 🤦🏼‍♀️

DH and I were both patients in the newish QEUH hospital in Glasgow last year. Single rooms with a large ensuite and our care was first class. There is a small M&S small food outlet on the ground floor along with a few other shops and large cafe area. As it was opening visiting we occasionally had lunch together, watched TV or relaxed, listening to some music. Much more conducive to recovery due to a full nights sleep as opposed to an open noisy ward.
And as Lucky says, having your own loo and shower is indeed…bliss.

Fortunately, I haven’t been in hospital for many years, but last year DD2 was in a single room with en-suite last October, for a week when she had sepsis.
DH was rarely out of a single room whenever he had to be admitted to hospital - once in a 4 bedder, but usually he needed to be isolated.
My DM was attacked by a man when hospitalised in Lancashire many years ago.

The best thing about single rooms is having your own loo - bliss.

I think I know the hospital you mean Callistemon21, if so it has 75% of beds in single rooms, but emergency assessment, high dependency and coronary care beds in bays so the patients can be fully observed - it was all planned for optimum patient safety. I don’t know anything about the curtains, but I’m guessing they are disposable and are changed each time there’s a new patient, for infection control reasons.

It is so hard to get it right, I’ve never heard about any new hospital that is perfectly designed, partly because the planning and building process is so prolonged, and technology and thinking move on so quickly that they are outdated by the time they open,

I was only in hospital once - the newer style with 4 bed rooms and curtains around each bed which you could pull if desired. My nephew was in one of the old style informiary hospitals a few years ago after a stroke and it was the older style wards with about 8 beds. After 4 weeks he discharged himself.

When my mum spent a long period in hospital she was moved into a single room when she developed an infection. It really wasn't good for her , she became increasingly confused. When she moved back onto the main ward she improved.

I do wonder about doctors doing a round during visiting time. Most hospitals don't do that. I visited my mum at times outside the visiting hour and always left the ward if the staff needed to see to a patient.

One new hospital here only has pleated curtains made from a material similar to J-cloths between the beds.
When I visited DH the man in the next cubicle was kicking off and throwing things around. It was scary, I felt for the nurses who had to try to calm him.

ICU had separate rooms with ensuite.

We’re ahead of the game in Wales, the first one in the UK opened here in 2011, and since then all new builds are similar. I don’t know about Scotland, but as they have a devolved NHS building programme too, it’s probably similar to Wales
This is in Wales, Casdon and the hospital opened in 2020.

Frankly, given the state of the health service, I'll just be happy if it's there and available. No, being on a large ward isn't nice. But it's better than no state funded healthcare.

From the sublime to the ridiculous, or t'other way round. Multiple rooms with beds both sides with curtains is just dreadful. Single rooms are a nonsense and very very wasteful. Most doctors I know say single rooms are actually dangerous with the lack of nursing staff, as well as lonely.

I spent 7.5 months in hospital when I was younger, after a car accident. 4.5 of which in traction so totally dependent. Always in a ward of 3, with always a friendly hear and someone to help with reaching things, water, etc etc.

GagaJo

Aveline

You have a long memory! The ward where I volunteer has single rooms only all with ensuites.

Had surgery in 3 hospitals in the last 10 years. The only one that was all single rooms with ensuites was a private hospital. The NHS ones were both wards with multiple beds.

It’s changing GagaJo. The government has now committed to all new hospitals in England being 100% single rooms.
We’re ahead of the game in Wales, the first one in the UK opened here in 2011, and since then all new builds are similar. I don’t know about Scotland, but as they have a devolved NHS building programme too, it’s probably similar to Wales.

www.designcurial.com/news/uk-s-first-new-build-single-bed-hospital-by-nightingale-associates

As Aveline says though, there are mixed views from patients. It’s particularly difficult for those who are in hospital for some time, who tend to be older people with complex problems, many crave company more than their privacy and dignity - it’s a tough call to get it right for each individual.

Several years ago my elderly uncle was in a single room in one of the new NHS Glasgow hospitals. He didn't like it as he was very sociable and liked company. I was in a single NHS room after surgery and was very glad of the peace and quiet ( and my own bathroom).

I hate staying on wards, nothing has improved

Caleo hopefully doctors these days get some training in sensitivity and empathy. The consultants are no longer treated with so much deference. I am not surprised you still remember this appalling behaviour from both those men.

Aveline

You have a long memory! The ward where I volunteer has single rooms only all with ensuites.

Had surgery in 3 hospitals in the last 10 years. The only one that was all single rooms with ensuites was a private hospital. The NHS ones were both wards with multiple beds.

I agree re the loneliness of the single rooms. It's the reason that our project was started. It's very isolating on your own for long hospital days and nights. We just go round and chat/listen/ whatever people want.

In the old Royal Infirmary in Edinburgh there were mixed wards. I often visited but was never an inpatient.
I would not have liked it.
The new hospital, for all its faults, has 4 bedded rooms and single rooms all with handy loos.

I was at boarding school (single sex) so I am used to coping with lack of modesty.
My first night there I had to run the gauntlet of a body wash in a bathroom which had 2 washbasins, 2 baths and a queue of girls taking it in turns to wash
It made me appreciate privacy

Nightingale wards unfortunately are still around-maybe not many but I know of one hospital which has mainly those types of wards.

One of my sons was hospitalised with an asthma attack, when I went to visit him he was in a bed next to a woman aged around 50 plus. He was mid twenties at the time, I remember saying to him "how awful for her waking up next to a male of your age" to which he responded with "what's wrong with me?, I was very polite I said Good Morning to her" I said "that's not the point, it's a privacy issue" him "well yes I was a bit embarrassed!" [eye rolling emjoi required]

Bed configuration depends on the age of the hospital, new hospitals are built with single room, but the NHS capital projects have been very limited under this government, so there are lots of hospitals in need of replacement. To my knowledge Nightingale wards have all gone, but bays with 4 or 6 patients are still very common. It’s interesting that a lot of patients prefer the 4/6 bedded bays to single rooms, where they complain of loneliness and isolation. You can’t please everybody whatever you do.

Aveline

You have a long memory! The ward where I volunteer has single rooms only all with ensuites.

Wow I am amazed. Private???

I went to see an elderly friend in hospital recently. Long ward corridors with open wards each with 3 or 4 beds on each side- 'privacy' provided only by curtains.

I can remember being in a mixed sex ward when I was much younger. There was a confused old man who invariably walked about with his penis dangling out of his pyjama pants. I found this very embarrassing. I also remember being in a four-bed room when I broke both bones in my lower leg and was, therefore, totally incapacitated. I shared the room with a younger woman, an older woman and a man who was there for only one night and who it later transpired had just been arrested for rape.