Saturday, January 27, 2007

Dispatches from 209 Forward : 2

That's the first full shift at the Royal Infirmary over. I feel I've settled in now, and I'm starting to relax. We were kept busy today, with an emergency admission requiring surgery. Still finding little things that need recording in the diary to be sorted out for next week. The biggest thing so far is the computer. We have no access to the ward files, so we can't update the report, or download ward paperwork. We can't access our e-mail accounts, so we are technically out of communication with the rest of the trust.
There's an annoying little high pitched beep that goes off every minute from a little speaker set into the ceiling above the nurse's station. It's purpose is to inform the ward staff that the pneumatic tube system is still operational. You would think it would be better if the beep indicated that the system was not working, but no. Every minute of every day and night - beeeeep...beeeeeep....beeeeeep....
Apparently, in the early days of the hospital's operation it was reported to the company that run the hospital, but amazingly, that particular speaker wasn't present on the hospital plans, therefore it didn't exist, and because it didn't exist, nothing could be done about it. So now, five years on it's still beeping every minute of every day and night.
Coupled with that is a terminal that drones continually like a baritone fly. If you're wanting peace perfect peace, ward 209 is not the place to be.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Do most hospitals have pneumatic tube systems? As a kid, I remember department stores having those to shoot the money over to the financial offices, etc. Sorry that incessant beeping is driving you mad.

Deacon Barry said...

I don't know about 'most' hospitals, but the old Royal Infirmary had tubes, and the New Royal has them, and it's only four years old. There's a B&Q on the outskirts of Edinburgh that has them, and I remember when I was younger, that a store in Princes Street called C&A had them.