Sociable ward helps recovery
RECENTLY I was hospitalised in Edinburgh, initially given a single room, perhaps because I had an infection, although not a contagious one.
However, after a couple of days, I was moved to a four-bed ward because my room was needed for someone else with an infection. After the move, I missed the TV, but gained valuable social interaction with other patients, one of whom was an acquaintance.
Isolation is clearly desirable for infection control and for some troublesome patients. However, in multi-bed wards, patients learn from and assist each other to their mutual benefit.
I would counsel against a policy of all-single rooms; best to keep a mix.
Steuart Campbell, Edinburgh