OT:NHS fuckwittery.

[Jethro_uk]

Had to visit a friend in the new Queen Elizabeth hospital in Brum over the weekend. The building is absolutely colossal - I vague recall it was one of the biggest building projects in the country.

Sitting in the ward, I noticed that the curtain that runs round the bed was fouled by the door to the ward - if you wanted to pull the curtain round, you needed to close the door a bit (hoping that no one would open it and tear the curtain. They should have either moved the curtain rail by 2", or made the door 2" smaller.

Apparently, according to the nurse all wards are like this.

Additionally, they had a big wall clock in the ward. Of course, it was mounted above the door to give everyone a clear view ? No, it was mounted

*next* to the door. So one half of the ward couldn't see it if they had their curtains round.

Reminded me of another visit to a hospital a few years ago. They had just refurbished it to the tune of millions, and some f****it decided the

*only* entrance into the hospital was by revolving door - even for wheelchairs.

It's when you realise we are paying for this, you start crying :(

[The Other Mike]

If it were left to the tories you'd be in a late 1940's prefab with a leaky roof, freezing cold in winter and baked in summer. You might get a lukewarm cup of tea if you were lucky as there would be no chance of any drugs or treatment.

[Terry Fields]

A friend of mine had severe ambulatory problems, and he needed to visit his local hospital fairly frequently. The outpatients desk was at the far end of what he said was a 200-yard long corridor, and the consulting room he needed to visit was right by the entrance...

He occasionally needed to visit the National Orthopaedic Hospital in Bolsover Street, West London, which has a massive *three* blue-badge parking spaces in a borough which he claimed is the only place in Europe not to support the scheme. One visit cost him £100 in parking fines.

[Dave Liquorice]

Hexham General orthapedics is at the far end of the atrium to the main entrance. There is a car park at that end but it's a floor lower than the atrium. There are stairs at that end, the lifts however are in the middle...

[Tim Streater]

Isn't this illegal? Revolving doors, I thought, *must* be flanked by outward-opening ordinary doors.

[Dave Liquorice]

Was there enough space above the door to take a large clock? Could well be some poncy designers idea for a large clock but hadn't looked at the plans to see if their clock would actually fit.

There is a *small* H&S side as well in access to the clock to reset it twice a year or change the battery. Some one needs to be up steps in a doorway, possibly behind closed doors. Also unless the fixing is done well both into the wall and fixing to clock the slamming vibration could cause it fall off as someone is passing through.

So their you have the reasons, a poncy designer, H&S and a builder who can't put a fixing into a wall securely.

All the large revolving doors I've seen have had double door fire exits either side of them. Revolving doors don't let people out fast enough. Some revolvers don't have fixed paddles though they can be released to create a straight through path.

Hum until 2004 Hexham General was a ramshackle collection of prefabs built as emergency military hospital during WWII...

[Jethro_uk]

I don't know. I just remember being behind a very elderly couple who were to terrified to go in. I went ahead and triggered the safety "go slow" and helped them through. I was so incensed that I went to the reception desk and complained to whoever looked in charge. She honestly couldn't see the problem as "no one has every complained before". I got a frosty look when I said that's probably because they can't get in.

[Mentalguy2k8]

They have to find savings somewhere, those boilers that keep the hospital temperature at 6,000 degrees aren't cheap to run. Neither are the nurses they employ to close a window within 4 seconds of you opening it

[Nightjar]

On 05/08/2013 11:24, The Other Mike wrote: ...

One thing that Maggie did to benefit suppliers was insist that government bodies, like the NHS, pay quickly. It greatly improved our cash flow when that happened.

Colin Bignell

[Mike Barnes]

Tim Streater :

Yes, and I find them much quicker than any revolving door so I look out for them. But very few people seem to use them. I suspect they just don't see them (not saying that about Jethro).

[Nightjar]

Only if they are designated as emergency exits.

Colin Bignell

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Yes. If the door jams, no exit. So doesn't meet fire regs.

[Jethro_uk]

On the way to the ward I stopped at main reception first. The lady immediately looked at her screen and directed me to the correct unit. At the unit, I asked again, and got a sea of blank looks. The nurse tried to tell me they had no record of my friend, but accepted that the front desk wasn't mistaken. I was pointed to the next nurses station, who pointed me to the one after that which it transpired was the one I needed. Luckily, they had a whiteboard behind them with all 12 patient names for clarity. Clearly, in the NHS, "data protection" is something other people do.

3 Nurses stations, each staffed with 3 nurses, plus any number of auxiliary staff for 40 patients.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

It would be strange to have a main entrance which wasn't also an emergency exit.

[Brian Gaff]

Yes a small hospital near me has been rebuilt and now has a school in the same place. So we have health and schooling. Fine until the parents found out the local druggies needle exchange is in the health building about five yards from the school entrance. Also there is no air conditioning in the new block just circulated air and during the heat they had to go out and buy lots of fans to keep people cool. Not content with that the open plan entry for cars for both buildings is completely flat with disembodies tactile bits around the place. The observation from many of the areas blind is that this arrangement with a free for all between cars and pedestrians is designed to generate lots on cuts bruises and broken bones for the new heath centre and minor injuries unit. The whole problem with health and indeed many other parts of large organisations like this is the lack of actually thinking of the whole when designing and building the bit they are responsible for. Seems to me that in this era of communications, its the very communication which is the hardest part for people to do. Of course everyone is not an expert on everything, but there are experts, one just needs to talk to them before spending money. Brian

[Nightjar]

That rather depends upon whether outside the main entrance is a suitable place to have a large crowd of confused people milling about. It probably isn't if it is on a busy main road or is the route the emergency vehicles need to use. Better instead to lead people along a fire protected route that deposits them somewhere that they will be safe and not get in anybody's way.

Colin Bignell

[harryagain]

In days of yore, the NHS had it's own design teams for this sort of thing.

Nowadays they get architects/consultants in and this is what you get. They don't even have proper supervision any more.

[Tim Streater]

There was a night-club fire in the 20s in New York (IIRC) where they had

400 deaths or so because he revolving doors jammed.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Fine perhaps in the village hall, but most hospitals are rather large to have just the one fire exit. And the important thing is to have the shortest possible route to the fire exit - not to worry about what's happening outside.

[SteveW]

Does that still apply to the type of revolving door where pushing either side stops the drive motor and folds back the door leaving it wide open?

SteveW