Wine in hospital

[NickFitz]

I suspect they don't allow such things around intensive care units though. Perhaps they do....don't know!

This thread was started from my bed in the Coronary Care Unit (== emergency ICU specifically for heart attack patients) using my iPhone

They wouldn't let me be disconnected from the bleepy machine for long enough to go for a piss, but they had no problem with me using my phone.

[MrRobin]

Hospitals will keep bottles of whiskey and/or vodka on the wards as it's the approived treatment for poisoning by drinking antifreeze or similar ethanol based substances.

Unfortunately it's likely to be Tesco's value rather than Beluga Gold.

[Sysman]

That must be because there is no equipment in Swiss hospitals. Over here we're not allowed to use our own comms equipment because it interferes with the highly sensitive, leading edge, life preserving equipment we have. Which is why we have to use their £5 per minute phone lines in the wards, have pay-per-view TV and the unusable dedicated internet terminals.

It couldn't possibly be because we are being lied to and ripped off.

In a Swiss hospital I had a small TV/telephone combination all to myself. It cost something like 5 francs a day (equivalent to a couple of cups of coffee at the time), plus telephone calls at the normal rate. There was internet too, but when I broke my leg, picking up my laptop wasn't the first thing on my mind.

Decent library with English books, free newspapers, and nicely coloured duvet covers - it was more like a hotel.

[Sysman]

When I was last in hospital in the UK (1981) I got a bottle of red wine and a four pack of Guinness twice a week on prescription (during the pill round.) Because I had lost so much blood and weight, this was determined as the best way to build me up. The trouble was I don't like red wine and at the time I didn't like Guinness so used to trade it on the ward for other beers.

A chap I used to know was prescribed Guinness when he had a very nasty leg fracture and the bones weren't knitting.

It worked, though possibly not quite as intended. He put a lot of weight on and that probably helped his bones to knit more than anything else.

[thunderlizard]

I cannot stand the tension any longer. It is driving me insane.

At some point, AtW will start a thread "whine in hospital" and the anticipation is now utterly unbearable.

Back in the mythical days when CUK was good, we used to do that within the original thread, using post titles. They didn't clutter up the board and could be unobtrusively ignored.

Back on topic - I'm sure when I was picking BUPA plans, the big-money option had a bullet point about wine lists with the hospital food.

[NotAllThere]

...

But do you get free MRSA like we do on the NHS?...

No, the wards are cleaned every day - takes about forty five minutes per ward (four beds). Apparently there was talk of cutting the cleaning budget, but the medical director said "over your dead body". (or something).

The hernia repair was key-hole surgery (TEP), so recovery is comparatively quick. Just three little cuts, with a stitch apiece.

[MaryPoppins]

Mobile phones and 3g are allowed in UK hospitals now. My daughter was in back in November and they had no problem with using phones and the ipad.

I suspect they don't allow such things around intensive care units though. Perhaps they do....don't know!

I was texting while in labour, and you were allowed to use phone's in the special baby unit.

[Sysman]

No, the wards are cleaned every day - takes about forty five minutes per ward (four beds). Apparently there was talk of cutting the cleaning budget, but the medical director said "over your dead body". (or something).

Shall we tell 'em that four beds means a "public ward"? Choice of menus too.

My only grouse was that they woke you up too early. Sans internet (no laptop in my case) it was boring enough without an early start - I even watched the Eurovision Song Contest for the first time in many years.

[Zippy]

I was texting while in labour, and you were allowed to use phone's in the special baby unit.

Beep beep. You have a new message. Aaaarrrrgggghhhh.

[norrahe]

Get well soon NAT