Hospital Bed Fetish?

MrAbyss

What is it about people having to have a hospital bed asap?

There is an obsession with them. Added to this the, media hyperbole that somehow a hospital trolley is akin to some kind of medieval torture device used in hospitals with the specific purpose of murdering hospital patients. A trolley is a bed with wheels. I have been in hospital a few times and I was on a trolley. It was a bed except it had wheels - which I couldn't see - and I was taken care of.

I sometimes get the impression that some people in this country think a hospital should be like a hotel or something. If they save your life on either a trolley or a bed, what does it matter: they saved your life.

whiskeyman

Hello Mr Harris.

Tell me about it. People having the audacity to fall ill and require medical attention. It's a disgrace Joe.

blueshade

Maybe ask the 90 year old woman who has spent two days on a trolley in hospital how she feels about it? A hospital bed is more comfortable than a trolley and at least there's a curtain around a hospital bed in a ward to give people a little bit of privacy. Not sure how you can't see that there's a difference or why people wouldn't want to be on a trolley.

TheValeyard

You're living up to your name OP

Charlie19

That's sick.

voldejoie

blueshade wrote: »

Maybe ask the 90 year old woman who has spent two days on a trolley in hospital how she feels about it? A hospital bed is more comfortable than a trolley and at least there's a curtain around a hospital bed in a ward to give people a little bit of privacy. Not sure how you can't see that there's a difference or why people wouldn't want to be on a trolley.

Another depressing aspect to that 90 year old woman spending two days on a trolley is that we're supposedly in the 'good times' at the moment. God only knows what state things will be in when the next recession hits.

TheValeyard

TheValeyard wrote: »

You're living up to your name OP

He's ascending to new depths.

ednwireland

i spent 13 hours on a trolley they are narrow with thin mattresses. they arent designed for lying on for days on end.
very uncomfortable. I was hooked up to various monitors and iv drips so couldn't move much so it gets uncomfortable quite quickly

Leg End Reject

Lack of privacy, lined up against the wall, maybe having to use a commode with a thin screen to preserve your modesty if you can't make it to the toilet, endless stream of medical professionals, patients and visitors passing by you, bright lights 24 hrs a day, ignored when life-threatening emergencies are wheeled past you. Then on top of all that you're sick.

Yeah, I don't think it's a fetish.

Big Ears

In some cases a trolley will be absolutely fine to cater to a patient for a day or two.

But they are not nearly as comfortable as beds, they are not as adjustable as beds and they are not sufficient for the care of a lot of people.
Part of the problem is that those requiring beds are more likely to be elderly, more likely to have an orthopedic issue and more likely to be in extreme discomfort than the general population.
It's simply not suitable for people in those scenarios.

There was 57 people on trolleys in CUH on Thursday morning and 90 something in Cork hospitals total. You can be sure for a large percentage of those people, a trolley will not have adequately met their needs.

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts

When you’re on a trolley, it’s not just about the bed, it’s about the location. You’re parked up somewhere that isn’t very restful usually and that matters a lot when you’re not feeling well.

Ubbquittious

How come they never run out of trolleys?

Your Face

Ubbquittious wrote: »

How come they never run out of trolleys?

Thats a wheelie good question.

Insect Overlord

Oh, MrAbyss, never change.

Tom Mann Centuria

Ubbquittious wrote: »

How come they never run out of trolleys?

They do. Then the ambulance waits outside until one becomes available. There are literally no more beds to put on corridors or trolleys to put in ED or MAU in my local hospital.

Big Ears

Ubbquittious wrote: »

How come they never run out of trolleys?

They do. I've seen occasions where they were waiting for discharges just to get people on a trolley.

Spanish Eyes

When my dear late mother was ill with many issues, and we had to visit A+E quite regularly, we got the drill eventually.

Bring an ipad and play her fave movies/YouTube clips with earphones of course. Free wifi in the hospital helped! Bring a fluffy and comfortable blanket in the ambulance too. Bring an eye mask like you get on a plane.

We as a family did this over many visits to AE but I suppose we were veterans. It must be awful on the first trip with blue lights.

In the ten or so years our dear Mam was ill with this and that, I cannot fault St. James Hospital at all. Even though they were stretched on many an occasion, our mam was always treated with dignity and respect, and was NEVER on a trolley for more than an hour or so.

It is not all bad news you know. Just saying.

20Wheel

Limited amount of cash.

We can't have both hospital beds and €3000 per month luxury apartments as social homes.

(As per the thread in current events.)

Snotty

It has next to nothing to do with the bed shape. People on trollies mean they are above capacity, the ward has a number of patients that is a ratio to the number of staff needed to give a suitable level of care, when over this ratio it effects all patients, even those on bed, the staff are not capable of giving the correct care to any patient when they have to look after more people than is suitable.
You will see some hospitals with people on trollies but yet they have wards closed, they cannot open a ward without the correct number of staff but they can throw as many people as possible onto trollies.

Spanish Eyes

Would there be any advantage in having a minor injuries unit attached to the main A+E, where after triage, the patients wait there instead of on a trolley?

I really don't know how it would work, just throwing it out. But I suppose every injury or illness would have to be assessed by a doctor in the end so maybe that would not work.

I'm just trying to think of some way those with obvious emergency issues like cardiac, asthma attacks, broken limbs, car crash and assault victims etc. could be segregated from those who may not require immediate treatment.

The lack of out of hours GPs who can visit the patient in their home is not helping here either, but not blaming them.

MOH

TheValeyard wrote: »

You're living up to your name OP

Yep, obvious troll is obvious.

shamrock55

It's not the bed, it's where it is, trolleys whilst beds tend to be in corridors, a bed is in a fixed place and normally has medical equipment around it

sadie1502

Spanish Eyes wrote: »

Would there be any advantage in having a minor injuries unit attached to the main A+E, where after triage, the patients wait there instead of on a trolley?

I really don't know how it would work, just throwing it out. But I suppose every injury or illness would have to be assessed by a doctor in the end so maybe that would not work.

I'm just trying to think of some way those with obvious emergency issues like cardiac, asthma attacks, broken limbs, car crash and assault victims etc. could be segregated from those who may not require immediate treatment.

The lack of out of hours GPs who can visit the patient in their home is not helping here either, but not blaming them.

They should set up areas that soley deal with cuts minor injuries stitches it should also be part of a&e but kept seperate. They would get through a lot more if minor injuries were taken out and dealt with separately.

Spanish Eyes

I also often wonder if medics both nurses doctors and other professionals could provide a clue as to how the issue might be solved.

I do think everyone tries their best, but sometimes the capacity is just not there to cater for everyone.

Ageing population is a big thing now. I've seen it so often, but everyone no matter their age (well in my experience) is treated the same.

171170

blueshade wrote: »

Maybe ask the 90 year old woman who has spent two days on a trolley in hospital how she feels about it? A hospital bed is more comfortable than a trolley and at least there's a curtain around a hospital bed in a ward to give people a little bit of privacy. Not sure how you can't see that there's a difference or why people wouldn't want to be on a trolley.

Ageist sh1te!

The bed should go to the ill person who has been waiting the longest on a trolley in A&E, regardless of their age and gender. That's real equality.

Aceandstuff

20Wheel wrote: »

Limited amount of cash.

We can't have both hospital beds and €3000 per month luxury apartments as social homes.

(As per the thread in current events.)

And printers.

Jurgen Klopp

Don't forget that the HSE has a freeze on home care hours. Basically if ya need home care you are waiting until someone in your county dies or manages to get into a home for those hours to become available, but don't forget your on a list then.

Then they are also stopping or at least throttling down people going into the nursing home through the fair deal due to funding issues.

So you get a large cohort of elderly and disabled who are stuck in hospital if they have no family to be their carer as they can't manage on their own.

Then the government and HSE have the cheek to refer to them as "bed blockers"

Zaph

As someone who once spent 26 hours on a trolley in A&E, I can assure the OP that they're most definitely not simply "beds with wheels". Due to the injuries I had I was unable to move position on the trolley, and as they're significantly firmer than beds it became very uncomfortable, very quickly. And this was when I was in my 30s and otherwise healthy. They are certainly no place for patients who are old and infirm, or who are properly sick, as opposed to the leg injuries I had, to have to spend more than a couple of hours at most. On top of that the trolleys are generally dumped in corridors with loads of passing traffic, so it's nearly impossible for patients to either get proper rest or preserve their dignity. I certainly don't think that it's too much to want to get a proper bed asap when you have all that crap going on.

Tom Mann Centuria

Spanish Eyes wrote: »

I also often wonder if medics both nurses doctors and other professionals could provide a clue as to how the issue might be solved.

I do think everyone tries their best, but sometimes the capacity is just not there to cater for everyone.

Ageing population is a big thing now. I've seen it so often, but everyone no matter their age (well in my experience) is treated the same.

Better social care, give people back the care hours they lost, reopen the community hospitals and hospital beds that have been closed. More capacity in every "front line" hospital, more specialist consultants. Some could be done with more money pretty quickly (care hours), some will take much longer (increasing capacity in hospitals).

What's going to change in reality though? Nothing.

Tom Mann Centuria

Jurgen Klopp wrote: »

Don't forget that the HSE has a freeze on home care hours. Basically if ya need home care you are waiting until someone in your county dies or manages to get into a home for those hours to become available, but don't forget your on a list then.

Then they are also stopping or at least throttling down people going into the nursing home through the fair deal due to funding issues.

So you get a large cohort of elderly and disabled who are stuck in hospital if they have no family to be their carer as they can't manage on their own.

Then the government and HSE have the cheek to refer to them as "bed blockers"

Nailed it.

maudgonner

There have been some really stupid threads on AH over the last while, but this one deserves a prize.

super_furry

This thread is desperately misleading.

Yours truly, disappointed.

Tom Mann Centuria

super_furry wrote: »

This thread is desperately misleading.

Yours truly, disappointed.

Those with a kink for plastic pillows and rubberised mattresses, with metal backrests eh?

JohnnyFlash

People are living longer, and healthcare is getting more expensive. We also love our shïtty little regional hospitals in this country, and so have very little true economies of scale.

Healthcare will bankrupt the country. That’s not being dramatic. The bill will get higher and higher and money will have to be borrowed and diverted from social welfare, housing, education.

It’s a huge issue worldwide. It’s an imminent crisis that no ones seems to be talking about.

Spanish Eyes

super_furry wrote: »

This thread is desperately misleading.

Yours truly, disappointed.

And why pray tell. A one liner says nothing really. Expand on it now if you want to.

ohnonotgmail

Ubbquittious wrote: »

How come they never run out of trolleys?

you have clearly never watched your mother sitting in a chair for 8 hours in A+E while waiting for a trolley to come free. This was a woman who was brought to hospital by ambulance after having a stroke.

pablo128

I had an operation cancelled last week because there was no beds available. I had it done early this week luckily.

It's not always a case of firing someone onto a trolley. I would have had to have been monitored after the operation until I came around out of anesthesia. I only needed the bed for a day, and out that evening, but there you go.

That was after a 3 and a half year wait for the operation in the first place.

retro:electro

It’s not solely about the hospital bed. It’s getting access to the specialised care that you need by a team of doctors and nurses who know their shlt and can give you the attention and care that you need. Having had more than enough experiences with A&E I can say without a doubt that the nurses there are completely and utterly out of their depth. I would liken Galway A&E to a warzone at times, with nurses who actually go out of their way to not give you eye contact, for fear you’d ask them something.
Also if you are oxygen dependant, which many older people are- being left on a trolley means you’re using an oxygen tank which can run the risk of emptying without your knowledge- and if you’re not getting the attention you need this is incredibly risky. This wouldn’t happen if you were situated in a proper room/ ward with the facilities you need.

Mrs OBumble

Leg End Reject wrote: »

Lack of privacy, lined up against the wall, maybe having to use a commode with a thin screen to preserve your modesty if you can't make it to the toilet, endless stream of medical professionals, patients and visitors passing by you, bright lights 24 hrs a day, ignored when life-threatening emergencies are wheeled past you. Then on top of all that you're sick.

Very little of that would be avoided if you had a bed instead of a trolley though: hospitals are intrinsically undignified places, where a thin curtain which everyone can hear through pretends to be "privacy".

Stheno

Beaumont have a minor injuries clinic attached to a and e which operates 8am -8pm 7 days a week

Tony EH

MrAbyss wrote: »

What is it about people having to have a hospital bed asap?

There is an obsession with them. Added to this the, media hyperbole that somehow a hospital trolley is akin to some kind of medieval torture device used in hospitals with the specific purpose of murdering hospital patients. A trolley is a bed with wheels. I have been in hospital a few times and I was on a trolley. It was a bed except it had wheels - which I couldn't see - and I was taken care of.

I sometimes get the impression that some people in this country think a hospital should be like a hotel or something. If they save your life on either a trolley or a bed, what does it matter: they saved your life.

You'll understand when you have to spend a couple of nights on one in a hospital corridor kid.

Uriel.

Jurgen Klopp wrote: »

Don't forget that the HSE has a freeze on home care hours. Basically if ya need home care you are waiting until someone in your county dies or manages to get into a home for those hours to become available, but don't forget your on a list then.

Then they are also stopping or at least throttling down people going into the nursing home through the fair deal due to funding issues.

So you get a large cohort of elderly and disabled who are stuck in hospital if they have no family to be their carer as they can't manage on their own.

Then the government and HSE have the cheek to refer to them as "bed blockers"

I don't think I've ever heard Government or HSE using disgusting terminology like bed blockers. That's the media.

The reality is that fair deal and home care are expensive and money is prioritised to other things. We should have far more community services and far less congregated settings. There's many health care centres, nursing homes and community hospitals knocking around the place that are inefficient and these should be closed but no chance of that happening.

We should be prioritising urban hubs, outside of cities for, for prioritised infrastructural investment. This lark of broadband to every home is a joke. Broadband to designated urban hubs is what we should be doing. If you want to live up the side of the mountain then you'll need to balance that decision against inaccessible services. We're too small of a country and infrastructure like Healthcare is too expensive to continue to do it the way we are doing it.

And I still think are biggest problem is electing a national parliament on the back of local issues. Our national Parliament and as a result, our government, spend far too much time and effort on parish pump sh1te and not enough on making priority and hard decisions in the national interest.

Blondie919

I thought this was about some strange fetish involving hospital beds. Sadly it’s not.

blueshade

pablo128 wrote: »

I had an operation cancelled last week because there was no beds available. I had it done early this week luckily.

It's not always a case of firing someone onto a trolley. I would have had to have been monitored after the operation until I came around out of anesthesia. I only needed the bed for a day, and out that evening, but there you go.

That was after a 3 and a half year wait for the operation in the first place.

That's awful, it's so frustrating to wait a long time and then have it cancelled. I hope your procedure is done soon.

blueshade

Uriel. wrote: »

I don't think I've ever heard Government or HSE using disgusting terminology like bed blockers. That's the media.

The reality is that fair deal and home care are expensive and money is prioritised to other things. We should have far more community services and far less congregated settings. There's many health care centres, nursing homes and community hospitals knocking around the place that are inefficient and these should be closed but no chance of that happening.

We should be prioritising urban hubs, outside of cities for, for prioritised infrastructural investment. This lark of broadband to every home is a joke. Broadband to designated urban hubs is what we should be doing. If you want to live up the side of the mountain then you'll need to balance that decision against inaccessible services. We're too small of a country and infrastructure like Healthcare is too expensive to continue to do it the way we are doing it.

And I still think are biggest problem is electing a national parliament on the back of local issues. Our national Parliament and as a result, our government, spend far too much time and effort on parish pump sh1te and not enough on making priority and hard decisions in the national interest.

We should be prioritising Irish needs first. We've 30 something permanent DP centres and 30 something temporary ones. Another 4 temporary ones at a cost of 64 million euro over 2 years was recently announced. It cost 77 million last year so almost double that next year and the year after and the government are tendering for even more. Yet the elderly Irish are expected to sign over a portion of the sale of their homes in exchange for a bed in a nursing home. We've got less than 5 million people on this little island in the Atlantic and despite all other EU countries having a drop in asylum applications ours are up 60%, it ain't the climate they're coming for.

I have spent lots of time on nine occasions in a private southside hospital where the beds are narrow and quite uncomfortable, although at least they are electronically controlled. Then last year I had a major emergency with a strangulated bowel and had to go to Vincent’s public. Was given a trolley in my own private cubicle withs door so that I could have peace whilst awaiting surgery/bed. Probably because I had fecal vomiting which was causing others to gag! Anyway I had a very successful surgery and was put in a really comfy padded bed.

However I was in rather a lot of pain, because the doctor forgot to prescribe any painkillers whatsoever and the nurse didn’t seem to think this odd and point it out. I then developed a heart emergency from stress of pain, and was put in critical care. The doctor responsible came to me and apologised which I appreciated. Once they kicked in I was fine, and my only complaint was that the bed was not electronically controlled, which made getting up and out of it after major abdominal surgery, with mesh in belly, very sore, but I quickly found that by moving more and more the pain faded away.

So in my experience a certain private hospital has convenient electronic control on an uncomfortable narrow bed and the one public hospital I got taken to by ambulance provided soft comfy bed but not adjustable by patient. And the public hospital trolley was almost as comfortable as the private hospital bed. Would be nice to have it all everywhere when you're that sick!

Spanish Eyes

Spanish Eyes wrote: »

I also often wonder if medics both nurses doctors and other professionals could provide a clue as to how the issue might be solved.

I do think everyone tries their best, but sometimes the capacity is just not there to cater for everyone.

Ageing population is a big thing now. I've seen it so often, but everyone no matter their age (well in my experience) is treated the same.

I was speaking to someone in the medical sphere recently who believes that a major part of the lack of doctors problem lies with a certain cohort top consultants who don’t want their professional earnings diluted which would happen if the profession got relatively flooded. I don’t know how much truth there is in this but thinking of one of RTE’s investigative programs which highlighted an issue with certain very greedy consultants, I could believe it.

171170

blueshade wrote: »

We should be prioritising Irish needs first. We've 30 something permanent DP centres and 30 something temporary ones. Another 4 temporary ones at a cost of 64 million euro over 2 years was recently announced. It cost 77 million last year so almost double that next year and the year after and the government are tendering for even more. Yet the elderly Irish are expected to sign over a portion of the sale of their homes in exchange for a bed in a nursing home. We've got less than 5 million people on this little island in the Atlantic and despite all other EU countries having a drop in asylum applications ours are up 60%, it ain't the climate they're coming for.

You genuinely find it unacceptable that wealthy elderly people should contribute to their bed, board and keep in a nursing home? :eek:

You'd prefer for them to retain all of their wealth and let the taxpayer pay for their accommodation and care, so their kids can inherit every penny of their wealth?

I suppose you think they shouldn't have to contribute anything from their pensions ether - let Johnny and Julie taxpayer pay for the lot!

You're crazy! :mad:

blueshade

171170 wrote: »

You genuinely find it unacceptable that wealthy elderly people should contribute to their bed, board and keep in a nursing home? :eek:

You'd prefer for them to retain all of their wealth and let the taxpayer pay for their accommodation and care, so their kids can inherit every penny of their wealth?

I suppose you think they shouldn't have to contribute anything from their pensions ether - let Johnny and Julie taxpayer pay for the lot!

You're crazy! :mad:

You genuinely believe that all elderly people needing nursing homes are wealthy? A lot of people bought ordinary terraced houses long ago before property hit insane prices. You sound like a Marxist loon tbh a real Corbynista. Do you know what happens in Marxist economies, everyone but the party elite ends up poor.

thomasdylan

Deleted User wrote: »

I was speaking to someone in the medical sphere recently who believes that a major part of the lack of doctors problem lies with a certain cohort top consultants who don’t want their professional earnings diluted which would happen if the profession got relatively flooded. I don’t know how much truth there is in this but thinking of one of RTE’s investigative programs which highlighted an issue with certain very greedy consultants, I could believe it.

Definitely not true at all. If someone actually told you that, it's a bit worrying they're in the 'medical sphere'. 500 unfilled consultant posts mean more frequent on call, overflowing clinics and higher workload for those working.