barking, havering and redbridge hospitals

barking, havering and redbridge hospitals: normally hospital is not a place to be on the itinerary of a tourist, and, therefore, is not expected to be a part of the memoir of a journey. however, mr vivek mai khare (mr khare, father-in-law of ashwini, and his wife ms mohini khare are also on tour to uk at the invitation of ashwini and shagun) got ill due to some infection. he had to contact the accident and emergency department of the barking, havering and redbridge hospitals at the old church, which is about one kilometer from our residence. when the treatment did not respond despite one week treatment as out-patient, he was admitted to the hospital on 19th june, 2008. he is being discharged today, the 26th june, 2008, and will need further treatment either in uk or when he returns to india. hence, this story on this blog.

uk has got a very good social security system and free medical facilities to a very large extent is available to its citizens and the persons on work permit. the tourists are not covered but are given emergency treatment. persons over 60 years of age are allowed free medicine even as out patient. once emergency is over, the treatment has to be paid for. therefore, it is advisable for tourists to have insurance cover.

the medical facilities are run as part of the national health scheme. nhs trust has been formed to manage the hospitals. patients have to be routed to the hospital through their general practitioners, who are private doctors working for the nhs. only in case of accident and emergency the patients can approach the hospital directly. therefore, the hospitals here are running twenty-four hour emergency. when gp's are not available as their clinics have closed, the patients are coming to the a&e department of the hospital and getting temporary treatment and are thereafter advised to go to the gp's unless they are admitted to the hospital in the meantime.

on arrival to the hospital, the patients are first enrolled and then referred to the triage nurse, who decides about the nature of emergency and accordingly divided into several groups like minor, majors and children. this facilitates severe emergencies to be tackled first. accidents and ailments requiring immediate attention like cardiac problem are labour pains are separately dealt with. that is why there is a separate entrances for maternity cases and accident cases.
ambulances and police vehicles have exclusive access to such entrances.

the cleanliness of the hospital is superb. this has been outsourced. they use lot of mechanical devices for sweeping, wet scrubbing, etc. in case of wet scrubbing, the water is automatically collected leaving the floor completely dry. the toilets are checked for their cleanliness at given intervals. the toilets are kept completely dry with the use of paper towels. glasses are also cleaned regularly. all the floors have eithr venyle flooring or carpet tiles.

beds of the patients are of very high quality and all arrangements have been made for oxygen supply and other needs of the patient. in a general ward, only four patients are kept in a room.
visitors are allowed only during 1430 hrs to 1930 hrs. there can be only two visitors at a time with the patients. the nurse-in-charge is able to enforce the discipline.

the patients are given food from the hospital. for the purpose, the hospital has an arrangement from a hotel. a menu card is given to the patient every day in the evening and he can choose the menu as per advice of the dietician. the breakfast, lunch and super is served at the appointed time. the super is interestingly served at arount 1730 hrs. tea, coffee, milk, ovaltine, chocolate drinks are, however, served every two hours. the patient can demand it as and when he likes but not after 1900 hrs.

i have found that the most of the visitors to the hospitals were children or the aged. no patient had any worry on his face. he was sure of getting the best possible treatment at no cost. the doctor will always first talk about the sickness to the patient only, if he is conscious. only with his consent, he will speak about his health to his family members or the outsiders. the patient's privacy is fully respected. the patients and their family members do not forget to place a thank you card at the desk of the doctor and at the nurse station.

special tv telephone and mobile phone facility are available in the hospital and can be availed through the nurse. newspaper is also vended through mobile trolley. pay phones and cold drink and chocolate vending machines are installed outside every ward. there is a food court, a restaurant and shop for general utilities on the ground floor just near the main entrance. an information desk manned by several persons is also there.