Opinion : Are hospitals too noisy?

It’s been quite a while since my last blog, indeed please accept my apologies for my absence. However a good friend of mine has been unwell recently and yours truly has been visiting and supporting him in hospital.

One evening, a few weeks ago, yours truly was sitting at my writing desk in the drawing room of my ancestral home when the telephone rang.

The caller was my good friend Horace, he lives on his own and doesn’t have any close family. As the call continued it turned out that he wasn’t too well and would be going into hospital shortly.

Naturally my good self stepped forward, like a good citizen, and offered to help during his stay in hospital.

My friend doesn’t drive so your humble servant took Horace to hospital in my trusty motor. By Jove! It was a long way to the hospital.

After arriving on the ward Horace was taken to a bed to await what turned out to be the first of many visits from the doctors and nursing staff.

The bed was one of those newfangled modern things and even had a control box which operated electric motors to adjust the position of bed.

Apparently at home Horace likes to sleep with his feet to the wall so he got into bed with is feet to the wall and pressed the control to raise his head. Unfortunately his legs went vertically into the air. Next he decided to raise his feet, however the bed lifted leaving his back being supported in a most worrying manner with his head dangling in the air.

The bed may have been full of clever electrics but it’s a shame there was not a notice to say which was the top and bottom of the bed.

We sat talking in muted voices for a few moments.

It was amazing what sounds could be heard when the ward fell silent. In the distance we could hear someone calling ‘Nuuuuurse…. Nuuuuurse…. Nuuuuurse…. Please help me nuuuuurse….‘.

It seems another fellow patient was partial to crisps indeed every crunch of every mouthful could be heard clearly and precisely from quite a distance away.

Another patient got out of bed and went to the convenience located nearby. As the door closed a loud ‘Creeeeeeek‘ing noise filled the air.

Jovially my good self wished Horace a peaceful and pleasant stay. He could see the satire in my comment.

‘Is there anything you would like my to bring you? Chocolates? Grapes? Or flowers?‘, I asked. ‘Just a tin of oil please to sort the creaky hinges on the door‘ was his reply. ‘Oh…. and some walnuts with a nut cracker too please.‘

Next day, when I visited, the door on the convenience shut without making a noise, so did all the doors in the ward come to that. Horace may be unwell but he was determined to get a peaceful nights sleep.

I noticed that the walnuts had been cracked but not eaten. Naturally my good self enquired if there was a problem with them. ‘Oh, they are fine.‘ he replied, ‘I didn’t want them to eat. When the other patient started eating crisps at 1.00am in the morning I cracked my nuts every time he ate a crisp, the noise soon shut the crisp eater up.‘

It’s amazing the antics that go on in a hospital.

If one is to recover quickly, especially after a major operation, then surely peace and quite are as important as the medicines?

Perhaps it’s time that noise levels were monitored in hospital wards to make sure that silence reigns and the patients can get their rest?

Those patients who make excessive noise should be warned in order to help the others rest and recuperate.

What do you think?

*My blogs are published every Tuesday and Friday evening around 8.00pm here on the WycombeToday.com website.

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