'Ban' on greeting cards at Frenchay Hospital
Nurses have told elderly patients not to put up 'get well soon' cards on a ward at Frenchay Hospital in Bristol.
John Nickolls sent his aunt Edna a card to cheer her up after she fell at her home.
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Not allowed: John Nickolls wanted to give his aunt a 'get well soon' card
But when he visited her on ward 107 she told him she had sent the card home because she was forbidden from putting it up beside her bed.
Mr Nickolls, who lives in Brislington, said during a previous visit he had been told he could not take flowers on to the ward.
A spokesman for the hospital said there was no blanket ban on cards or flowers, but flowers were discouraged because they could clutter lockers and hamper cleaning. They are banned in intensive care and wards where there is electrical equipment at patients' bedsides.
He said senior nurses would ask for cards to be moved if they were taking up too much space.
Mr Nickolls, 73, noticed there were no cards on the ward during his visit, which “stunned him”.
He said: “We wanted to cheer her up and there aren't many things you can give to someone who is ill.
“I thought it was taking away something very important from someone who wasn't very well.
“If I was on a ward, I'd like to receive cards.
“Frenchay is a wonderful hospital but it seems a shame people can't receive cards or flowers.
“They could maybe put the cards and flowers in an area away from the beds.”
Mr Nickolls, a retired fundraiser, said when his aunt was first in hospital he took some flowers in but a senior nurse stopped him and explained plants were banned “for health and danger reasons”.
He said: “We had never heard of this before and can only assume it is due to any bugs in the flowers or vases being knocked over.
“We asked if they could be left in a dayroom or nurses' quarters but this was also rejected, and they wouldn't dispose of them so the alternative was to bin them or bring them home.”
Richard Cottle, spokesman for North Bristol NHS Trust, which runs Frenchay and Southmead hospitals, said: “We don't prevent patients displaying 'get well' cards on the wards.
“However, maintaining a clean environment and reducing infection is this trust's number one priority.
“It is particularly important that the area around the patient's bed is kept as clean as possible and is free of clutter so our cleaners can get complete access.
“Responsibility for cleanliness lies with the sister-in-charge on each ward, and if they feel cards on display by a patient's bedside are getting in the way of domestic staff, they will ask them to be taken down.
“We hope this particular patient and their family understand the very good reasons why they were asked to do this.”
At Weston General Hospital, flowers are not allowed in intensive care and high-dependency units but can be taken to all other wards as long as they fit on a patient's bedside locker. There is no ban on cards.
At University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the Bristol Royal Infirmary, flowers are allowed at the discretion of ward managers. If lockers are cluttered and nurses cannot carry out their duties because flowers and cards are taking up too much space, patients will be asked to move some of them.
19 Comments
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by Jacqui Sanders, Bristol
Thursday, January 01 2009, 10:52PM
“Banning Cards and Flowers from Hospitals because of health and safety reasons, so they can clean properly????? All this is so pathetic. One of the main problems with hospitals is the bacteria that accumulates on the CURTAINS that surround every bed. How often are they cleaned - ???? Just think about every time a clinical person is pulling the curtains around a patient - i.e. touching the curtains and then touching the patient. Think of the bacteria and filth that must get 'splattered' on curtains. I doubt whether the curtains are even considered in their so called health and safety efforts. I would actually go so far as saying the CURTAINS are causing all the bacteriological problems in all clinical environments. They should be removed and replaced with sterile cubicle screens, which can be removed daily and cleaned. The screens should be installed on a ceiling track system and operated from the wall. Comments anyone????”
by Jen, Bristol
Monday, August 04 2008, 2:08PM
“I was in the BRI about 10 months ago and had a couple of bunches of flowers ( in 1 vase) on my bedside and 2 ballons of which i ( no wait my bro) used the string to create a line behind my bed to hang some 30 cards. a couple of months later I was in Southmead hospital where the rules were much more strict. It was 4 days before xmas and there were no decorations up due to regulations, no cards were allowed or flowers and my nephews were not allowed to visit!
Luckily I was only in over night but some patients had to spend Xmas there with no merriement at all!!”
by Dave, Bristol
Monday, August 04 2008, 12:11PM
“I agree with you Emma, everyone is quick to run down a FREE for all at the point of need service. but when they actually need treatment they appreciate the hard work us staff do. many a time i have encounterd patients who say the same thing "i dreaded coming into here with all the stories i hear. but i thouroughly enjoyed my stay and the warmess from all the staff thank you so much" but i do agree flowers should be banned full stop as it irritates patients with respiratory infections and so on. cards is a little over the top. if they are in the way perhaps pack them away then get them out when appropriate.”
by david, Horfield
Monday, August 04 2008, 11:03AM
“I can understand a ban on flowers, after all many people are allergic to some of them which makes it more difficult to choose suitable ones.
Banning cards seems like going to far though. I'd prefer things to go the other way: paint the walls of the wards in brighter colours, or perhaps with murals to cheer people up (patients AND nurses) .”
by Emma, bristol
Monday, August 04 2008, 10:59AM
“Any chance of some positive comments about nurses and hospitals? Makes me wonder why I bother doing my job when you just feel demoralised all the time reading comments like this! I am forever defending my job to friends and strangers!”