Parliament Workbench

Petition · PE01482 · Session 4

Isolation in single room hospitals

Closed Submitted 13 May 2013 Health
Signatures
0
76 online signatures with a country
Comments
18
Considered
8 meetings
in the Official Report

What it asks

Calling on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to ensure that patients in new-build hospitals are given a choice to share a multi-bedded room with other patients or offered a single room; and to subject all the evidence on the single room policy to independent scrutiny.

What the petitioner did first

Accountability Review, September 2012: questions asked by John Womersley and others at the NHS Dumfries and Galloway Annual Accountability review with the Minister
On-line Petition: http://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/enforced-isolation-in-hospital
- 168 signatures and many comments in support of providing a mix of single rooms and multi-bed spaces in hospital.
Stewartry Churches: Petition: 110+ signatures received in local churches, supporting a mix of single rooms and multi-bed spaces in hospital.
Radio Scotland phone-in:: Call Kaye, 4th February: “a surprising number of callers in favour of sharing accommodation in hospital.”
Correspondence and discussions: The 100% single-room policy has given rise to much concern amongst the general public, hospital patients, patients’ advocates, doctors, nurses, spiritual leaders and also to some NHS Board members and MSPs.
Alex Fergusson MSP has commented on the absence of consultation with patients’ representative groups.
An NHS Dumfries and Galloway Board member has remarked on the Scottish Government’s insistence on 100% single rooms in spite of representations from some Board members, and the lack of clear evidence that the policy is necessary for patient care and infection control.
And a professor and clinician at Dumfries and Galloway Royal infirmary remarks on the need for substantially more single rooms but says “to dictate that this must be 100% when surveys show that many patients crave company flies in the face of reason;” he also raises the question of what happens when a patient unexpectedly has a cardiac arrest in a single room.
Further comments from these and a wide variety of other sources are given in the linked compendium: http://shim.org.uk/Documents/2013/Petition_responses.doc

Where it was considered

Official Report
  1. 17 Sep 2013
    Public Petitions Committee
    New Petitions
    1 mention
  2. 26 Nov 2013
    Public Petitions Committee
    Current Petitions
    1 mention
  3. 28 Jan 2014
    Public Petitions Committee
    Current Petitions
    1 mention
  4. 1 Apr 2014
    Public Petitions Committee
    Current Petitions
    1 mention
  5. 3 Jun 2014
    Public Petitions Committee
    Current Petitions
    1 mention
  6. 30 Sep 2014
    Public Petitions Committee
    Current Petitions
    1 mention
  7. 23 Feb 2015
    Public Petitions Committee
    Current Petitions
    1 mention
  8. 9 Jun 2015
    Public Petitions Committee
    Continued Petitions
    1 mention

Signatures by country

76 online signatures
  1. Scotland64 84.2%
  2. United Kingdom10 13.2%
  3. United States1 1.3%
  4. Falkland Islands (Malvinas)1 1.3%

Comments

18 comments, oldest first
  1. William Friel 20 May 2013
    In the last year, my wife has had to spend time in a small shared room (4 patients) in Edinburgh Royal Infirmary for two weeks. I am positive that the company and shared experience helped with her recovery. In addition, the oldest patient was on occasion bewildered and forgetful. They cared for and ensured that the staff took her needs into account. Only those with an infectuous disease should have to suffer in isolation.
  2. Colin Smyth 29 May 2013
    My father recently passed away in hospital in a single room. A single room was appropriate for his final days, but before then he shared a room with three other patients. The company he kept helped pass the days and his company helped those he shared with in their recovery, including him being able to call for assistance when the gentlemen in the bed across from him fell out of bed in the middle of the night and was unable to raise the alarm himself. I can only wonder what would have happened had he fell out of bed in a single room.
  3. Colin Wyper 30 May 2013
    I recently spent a month in DGRI, most of the time I was in a 4 bed ward and would not have had it any other way, the few days I spent on my own I felt isolated, hardly saw a sould for hours on end and was really down. If this had continued for the full month I would have had major depression. While in a 4 bed ward we all looked out for one another and on many, many occasions had to ring for a nurse on others behalf, had we not been there goodness knows how long it would have taken a nurse to happen upon the problems.
  4. Andrew Wood 5 Jun 2013
    I would like to see a mixture of both single and multi occupancy rooms, as I do agree with single rooms for infection control after major surgery, with patient then moving into multi for general recovery.
    I would also like to see the return of a ward sister with full control of all duties and being very much a part of the shift changeover, so that family and friends can get the correct information on patient progress, as this is not happening within D&G infirmary at present.
  5. Gilbert McGill 7 Jun 2013
    The introduction of single rooms is an attempt to hide the true picture of falling hygiene standards in hospitals and has nothing to do with improving patient care.
  6. T dalziel 7 Jun 2013
    Having recently spent a few unexpected days as a patient in ward 6 I would worry dreadfully about the single room status. During my three day stay in a four bedded unit each and every one of us in that room (age ranges from early forties to seventies) had moments of upset, anxiety etc and each and every one of us supported each other with a laugh or an ear. I dread to think the impact single rooms will have on patients general wellbeing. Socialisation is necessary, help from each other when nurses are pushed to the limit is necessary.
    Ask the patients not the doctors !
  7. Catherine Pittendreigh 7 Jun 2013
    My husband was a patient on three separate periods in Dumfries Royal Infirmary in 2011. Each time he was in four-bed rooms. The friendliness of families visiting other patients sharing the rooms helped and encouraged me through a difficult time. This would not be likely to occur if all patients had been isolated in separate rooms.
  8. Sandy Pittendreigh 7 Jun 2013
    Recent spell in hospital convince me that sharing the day in a four-bedded room with others is far more preferable to being isolated in a single room. Such groups quickly develop relationships of friendliness and concern for the wellbeing of others. This often transfers into practical outcomes where concerns are aired and experiences shared.
  9. Pearl Bissett 7 Jun 2013
    I am not in favour of single rooms the reason being I was in the Golden Jubilee in January for a total hip replacement in January , and it is single rooms. I was in for 10 days and it was very lonely as I did not have any visitors. Too far to travel.
  10. Margaret Pollitt 8 Jun 2013
    Have noted the isolation of patients in private hospitals at weekends with few staff available and thought they were very vulnerable if any setback suddenly occurred
  11. Jane Ingall 8 Jun 2013
    I would be so afraid to be alone in a hospital room if I was ill.
  12. J.L. Ingall 8 Jun 2013
    Staff are too busy to look after single rooms properly and so those in single rooms may be left alone in crisis unable to get attention
  13. clement david proudlock 9 Jun 2013
    personal experiernce of single rooms was not good when i was in a four bed ward we watched out for each other moral was also higher
  14. Janet Laidlaw 9 Jun 2013
    I was in Edinburgh Hospital last year in both single and shared wards and I positively disliked the single room, except for the private bathroom which was wonderful. So shared rooms with bathroom facilities for each bed.
  15. IAN RODGER 9 Jun 2013
    MENTAL WELLBEING IS VITAL, BE IT TO AID RECOVERY OR TO MAKE THE MOST OF WHATEVER TIME ONE HAS. MANY PREFER COMPANY, SO PLEASE GIVE THEM THE CHOICE TO HAVE IT.
  16. Ruth Paterson 10 Jun 2013
    I have had two hospital stays for hip replacements and found being on a ward with others most companiable. A single room may be appropriate at certain stages of recovery but there should be an option.
  17. Julie Simkins 10 Jun 2013
    All patients should be given choice. Single rooms do not suit everyone.
  18. Teresa Branson 13 Jun 2013
    Isolation is not psychologically beneficial to most people. A choice should be given to patients in hospital.