Few en djoy being in hospital; for most patients it is a time of crisis, even if clinically, their treatment is routine. Three weeks ago in a Polish state hospital, I had a radical cystectomy due to a diagnosis of bladder cancer. Post-op this can result in pain, discomfort, and psychological stress. What shocked me about the experience was not any lack of clinical professionalism, but the amount of noise on the ward. One evening in the 4-bed room two patients carried out a conversation across the room for 6 hours non-stop; others were using communication devices without headphones and bellowing into them. Late evening laughing and talking by nursing staff added to the cacophony. Mercifully, there was no TV otherwise the suffering would have been intolerable.
Comparing notes with people who have been in UK hospitals, I find the same concern with noise, anti-social behaviour, and the complete disregard for the health and welfare of others. One correspondent writes of being in a state of fear due to the unruly behaviour of other patients; another wrote of escaping to a quiet corridor, finding a wheelchair, and sleeping in it. The litany of misery includes loud conversations on phones, doors banging, machines beeping, TVs on into the early hours, and nurses chatting loudly around the desk at night. All, without exception, found the noise and selfish behaviour of others extremely distressing.
This comment encapsulates the problem: "My husband was driven...demented by the noise in the orthopaedic ward. They moved him from the bay...but the new bay was in front of the desk and the chattering of the night staff was even worse. Matrons in my youth...would not have stood for it. I blame the training...staff do not get told how important decent rest is for...healing".
Just 30 or 40 years ago this state of affairs would not have been tolerated. What has happened to the principle that a hospital should provide a calm, peaceful, stress free environment, in which people can heal in an atmosphere of kindness and life enhancing tranquillity? What has happened to the night curfew and the ward rules? One solution might be to create quiet wards with a prescribed code of conduct.
A hospital is not as some people seem to think an extension of their own home. In hospital living in your own bubble, without regard for the welfare of others, reaches the zenith of unacceptable behaviour, and makes a stay in hospital for most people hell on earth.
Footnote: there is plenty of material on the internet about the problem of noise in hospitals. I particularly recommend: "Quiet in the Hospital: How Noise Reduction helps Patients Heal" https://medcentreblog.uvmhealth.org/innovation/hospital-noise-reduction
