Observations on patients leaving a hospital by taxi
By Maish Nichani | 09 Jan 2012 Categorized under: Observation diary
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We feel sorry for the state of affairs here. One elderly woman was pulled by her trousers and lifted into the taxi. Another elderly man tried to enter the taxi the usual way, then realized it would be easier to enter back-first.
Patients need support to get into vehicles. A simple solution could be to have a dedicated hospital staff to help out. If this is not practical, then we need to look for a simple support system.
The handrails we saw were actually the handrails for the taxi stand. Since the sick and elderly patients are not going to stand in a taxi queue we need to think of other designs.
What do you think? What could help in such situations?
By Tim Wieringa | Jan 12 2012
When we talk about simple & practical solutions, I imagine we wont have a huge budget, e.g. to design new taxis or implement a special service to transport patients home.
Relying on existing standard cars (which usually have narrow doors and are relatively low) I can imagine a few things which work well in combination:
* build a ramp that cars are higher; I heard of elderly people that they think a SUV is much easier to board; a ramp for the cars would make the seat as high as in a SUV and the patients can sit more easily
* post a board that explains that sitting on the seat first and then pull in the legs is the best way to board a car for patients; I think the elderly person above was right: it’s much easier to sit down first and then sort out your legs; we should communicate this to everybody
* build a handrail that is vertical to the ramp/ road: and it needs to be at the end of the ramp that when the door opens the patient could hold the door handle (inside) and the handrail; in addition we could draw a big door on the floor that the driver knows that the door for the patient should be there
* provide enough seating at the pick-up point; an obvious one, right?
I hope this is some helpful input.
By Maish Nichani | Jan 15 2012
Very nice observations Tim. I like the ramp one. Some might say that we’re thinking too much about a small problem, but it really is about a small problem after a potentially larger health problem that they’ve just finished with. So we should be more empathetic about their experience. Thanks for contributing.
By Simon | Jan 16 2012
The patient wants to get from the hospital to somewhere. He probably has figured out that going by car is the best arrangement. He would have process concerns like speed of travel, cost, convenience, concerned by their loved ones and etc.
I’ve thought about various types of infra/machine assistance (such as flip-back wheelchair armrest) but that would amplify the attention from onlookers, and the patient may not like it. Furthermore, the physical infra may not cater to the variations of patients’ conditions.
So I feel that the object would be to help the patient board the car and make them feel happy while doing so.
I would think that getting a strong, friendly guy and girl who’s well-trained to give physical support and provide laughter may be the most cost-effective. Imagine bringing a smile to the patient while they are boarding.
By Shawaz | Mar 06 2012
This is really sad.The oasern i worked in the NHS instead of becoming a banker likemy cousin was because it thought it would be less Capitalistic .People not (just) profitsThe NHS has some of the most decent and kind people, that i have ever met.They care.Unlike Capitalists, many of whom don’t give a damn about people.We can see that in how they regularly sack thousands.The problem is that Capitalism corrupts everything.It’s true that money is important. Financial concerns matter also.However the dignity and high esteem that a human being deservesit totally missing from Capitalism.It’s all about the money.