Cooties - the New Hospital Superbug
Aug. 16th, 2010 06:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
I must admit I'm a bit baffled by this story, which was the lead on the news this morning. I mean, is this really the thing that people are most concerned about with the NHS? I suppose I can see that a lot of people would rather not have mixed-sex wards (I imagine a lot of them would rather have a room to themselves, in an ideal world), but separate toilets and bathrooms? Since when was that a big issue? It's not as if people are asked to stand next to each other in a communal shower, after all.
Am I missing something? The politicians and their interviewers all seem to be taking it for granted that it's a major disgrace this wasn't done years ago, rather than questioning whether it's as burning an issue as hygiene, queues, unavailable drugs, etc.
Either way, mixed-sex wards are due to be phased out by the end of the year. I wonder how long it will be before the papers report on the first person to die after being turned away from hospital despite beds being available, just because they were the wrong sex? My guess is January 2011.
Am I missing something? The politicians and their interviewers all seem to be taking it for granted that it's a major disgrace this wasn't done years ago, rather than questioning whether it's as burning an issue as hygiene, queues, unavailable drugs, etc.
Either way, mixed-sex wards are due to be phased out by the end of the year. I wonder how long it will be before the papers report on the first person to die after being turned away from hospital despite beds being available, just because they were the wrong sex? My guess is January 2011.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-08-16 05:44 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-08-16 06:08 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-08-16 06:14 pm (UTC)Admittedly, I am extremely fastidious about such things, but even so ... What a mercy I appear to be mostly fit and healthy.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-08-16 06:22 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-08-16 06:27 pm (UTC)Mind you, as I said, I am a bit fussy, even with single-sex facilities. I prefer to avoid the facilities in the library, for example, as the bulk of the users still seem to think they're in primary school, whereas the facilities in the School of English are rather nicer.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-08-16 07:29 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-08-16 05:49 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-08-16 06:04 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-08-16 06:48 pm (UTC)I guess it's the sort of issue that plays well with the Daily Mail.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-08-16 06:57 pm (UTC)A decade ago hospitals had gone a bit too far with the unisex wards, IMO - but it's hardly a really big problem any more - which is why it's a cheap stunt to announce the end of it. Not that there'll be any money to convert remaining old hospital wards, of course.
My Green Wing icon is more or less mandatory here, I think.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-08-16 07:01 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-08-16 09:28 pm (UTC)I do however agree with the person who made the point about elderly couples dying in separate hospitals. Flexibility and compassion have to be key if at all possible.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-08-17 08:13 am (UTC)I've got to admit I find it really hard to get my head round this notion, but you're clearly not alone!
(no subject)
Date: 2010-08-17 01:07 am (UTC)/sarcastic
(no subject)
Date: 2010-08-17 01:09 am (UTC)And when I say 'wondering' I mean 'burningly curious'.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-08-17 08:07 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-08-17 08:27 am (UTC)I read the case study the BBC story linked to, which was all about how awful it was having a man walk round with no trousers on and come & sit on your bed & say aggressively I'll sit where I like, which is indeed awful, but I couldn't really see why it was worse than having a woman behave inappropriately and aggressively on your ward. But then I realized: this isn't about mixed-sex or same-sex space, it's about the uncontrollability of male violence.* Which, it seems to me, is a problem better solved by holding men accountable for their actions and not condoning/promoting male aggression than by rigging up vote-winning strategies which rely on an assumption that only gender-conforming cis people are entitled to 'dignity' (or indeed medical treatment).
So, in short, in the end I got quite angry about this.
*At least, I haven't seen any arguments from men saying they're scared or uncomfortable when women are around, and I'm leaving the modesty stuff to one side for the moment.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-08-17 11:13 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-08-17 10:56 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-08-17 11:11 am (UTC)Yes, but that's a (perfectly reasonable) argument about resources rather than clinical need.