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There are a lot of exemptions in healthcare, sleep is part of this exceptional world, I was told bluntly 'we are not operating a hotel here' last time I spent a

There are a lot of exemptions in healthcare, sleep is part of this exceptional world, I was told bluntly 'we are not operating a hotel here' last time I spent a sleepless night in a hospital. Food is another area of concern. You can starve during a hospital visit or end up broke buying supplemental calories in the shop. Then there is the sheer difficulty of navigating the typical hospital if you are somewhat disabled or in agonising pain. It is as if that every hospital operates at some subliminal level as a field hospital in some 19th century war. It is thoughtcrime to think of how the place is run is less than heroic. There is also triage so that people with serious problems get dealt with before those with minor ailments. Therefore it is fine to keep a lot of people waiting. Or is it? In places that have a customer service ethos you don't keep people waiting. Apart from anything else it is just plain inefficient. The sleep thing is what I would consider inefficient. It is a given that at a typical hospital none of the patients are sleeping too well, if it is not disruption then it can be flimsy blankets. Sure any ward is not going to be your own bed, but we are way off any customer first thinking when it comes to this. I have had discussions about this with plenty of people and the idea of customer service in healthcare is poo-pooed. Is there anywhere in the world where it has been given a try? Scandinavia? Or even Cuba? It is not rocket surgery giving the patients a good night's sleep and enjoyable food. In our private lives we recommend to others that have a big day ahead of them that they get a good night's sleep. Why does this go out the window in the world of healthcare, whether it be staff or patients?

musicale 7y ago
A room and service upgrade would be totally worth it, and probably in the noise for most hospital bills. It really is amazing that hospitals are not patient-focused. I think the problem is that their real customers are insurance companies, who don't generally care how patients are treated.
lazyasciiart 7y ago
> ave had discussions about this with plenty of people and the idea of customer service in healthcare is poo-pooed. Is there anywhere in the world where it has been given a try? I spent several days in hospital for surgery as a teenager in Australia and my parents (with private health insurance) paid for me to have a private room, which I remember as being pretty comfortable and not filled with interruption. On the other hand I was on serious painkillers and couldn't even stand up so I may not be a reliable witness.
- Theodores 7y ago
  Nice parents! But what if you were born into a family that were not able to look out for you? From the sibling comments I get the feeling that people in countries where private health insurance is needed that the concept of healthcare for all is not imaginable. I was writing in the context of the NHS, as introduced by the Labour government in the post WW2 UK when Britain was broke and broken. It goes against the NHS ideal to have some patients be able to pay for an upgrade, you get what you are given. There are no up-sells. In recent years the neo-liberal politicians have chipped away at the NHS, slashing budgets and outsourcing services. Now that I consider what people in the USA get for healthcare I wish to take back all of my grumblings about the UK's beloved NHS! Sure it can be improved on but the values that go with it - universal and for all - are important to me. I would not feel happy paying for a better bed than the next guy or being the person that can't pay for that better bed. I have a sense of fairness that this goes against. I imagine I would not have that 'survivors guilt' feeling if private healthcare was all I knew.
  - arethuza 7y ago
    "There are no up-sells." That's not completely true - when our son was born we paid for a private room in an NHS hospital. Mind you that was ~20 years ago don't know if they still do it.
    - NLips 7y ago
      They still do, or did in 2015 and 2018. We were lucky enough to not need the doctor-led hospital unit - using the midwife-led maternity unit instead (where private rooms are standard). However, we were moments away from foreceps being used - a doctor-administered intervention - for the first birth, which would have necessitated a move downstairs to the hospital wing, and thus a ward or payment for a private room.
      - Theodores 7y ago
        Forceps? I thought that forceps had been replaced by sink plungers. Obviously not the sort you buy in the DiY store but the expensive medical grade. The same principle applies though, suction cup goes on baby's head and with one pull the baby is born! I thought the suction cup approach was standard now with the benefit to the technique being no birth marks.
burfog 7y ago
People in for a suspected heart attack should get bacon, right? I was at a place that did it. That is either an assumption about what heart attack patients like to eat, or it is an effort to get repeat customers.

musicale 7y ago

A room and service upgrade would be totally worth it, and probably in the noise for most hospital bills. It really is amazing that hospitals are not patient-focused. I think the problem is that their real customers are insurance companies, who don't generally care how patients are treated.

lazyasciiart 7y ago

> ave had discussions about this with plenty of people and the idea of customer service in healthcare is poo-pooed. Is there anywhere in the world where it has been given a try? I spent several days in hospital for surgery as a teenager in Australia and my parents (with private health insurance) paid for me to have a private room, which I remember as being pretty comfortable and not filled with interruption. On the other hand I was on serious painkillers and couldn't even stand up so I may not be a reliable witness.

Theodores 7y ago
Nice parents! But what if you were born into a family that were not able to look out for you? From the sibling comments I get the feeling that people in countries where private health insurance is needed that the concept of healthcare for all is not imaginable. I was writing in the context of the NHS, as introduced by the Labour government in the post WW2 UK when Britain was broke and broken. It goes against the NHS ideal to have some patients be able to pay for an upgrade, you get what you are given. There are no up-sells. In recent years the neo-liberal politicians have chipped away at the NHS, slashing budgets and outsourcing services. Now that I consider what people in the USA get for healthcare I wish to take back all of my grumblings about the UK's beloved NHS! Sure it can be improved on but the values that go with it - universal and for all - are important to me. I would not feel happy paying for a better bed than the next guy or being the person that can't pay for that better bed. I have a sense of fairness that this goes against. I imagine I would not have that 'survivors guilt' feeling if private healthcare was all I knew.
- arethuza 7y ago
  "There are no up-sells." That's not completely true - when our son was born we paid for a private room in an NHS hospital. Mind you that was ~20 years ago don't know if they still do it.
  - NLips 7y ago
    They still do, or did in 2015 and 2018. We were lucky enough to not need the doctor-led hospital unit - using the midwife-led maternity unit instead (where private rooms are standard). However, we were moments away from foreceps being used - a doctor-administered intervention - for the first birth, which would have necessitated a move downstairs to the hospital wing, and thus a ward or payment for a private room.
    - Theodores 7y ago
      Forceps? I thought that forceps had been replaced by sink plungers. Obviously not the sort you buy in the DiY store but the expensive medical grade. The same principle applies though, suction cup goes on baby's head and with one pull the baby is born! I thought the suction cup approach was standard now with the benefit to the technique being no birth marks.

burfog 7y ago

People in for a suspected heart attack should get bacon, right? I was at a place that did it. That is either an assumption about what heart attack patients like to eat, or it is an effort to get repeat customers.