"My time in NRC rehab centre"

Overall, when I look at what has been achieved in terms of my physical rehabilitation in 64 days I have gone from being unable to sit up on the side of a bed to being able to walk confidently with the aid of a stick and manipulate small objects with my previously dormant left hand – it is hard to overstate how much I owe to the team at the NRC for helping with this.

Two simple recommendations I have:

Although I understand that for COVID and other reasons there is a rationale for having pedal operated bins from a patient's perspective given that for most of us one leg is not very reliable one is faced with the choice of either standing on one's weaker leg and using one's dominant leg to apply the necessary force to open the bin lid or standing on one dominant the leg for greater stability but not necessarily having the strength in one's weaker leg required to open the bin so while I can understand you would not wish to change all the bins I do think there is a case for having a number of swing bins available perhaps in bedrooms because otherwise the alternative would seem a rather impractical waste of nurse's time simply to open a bin.

A specific issue that I found in room fivmy roome was that the radiator thermostat does not work and so the radiator seems to be stuck on maximum temperature on my third night I would guess that the temperature in the middle of the night reached approximately 35 degrresC which is not really habitable

I daresay should the kitchen staff ever need an extra hob the radiator surface typically would be warm enough to literally fry an egg or is one of the nurses put it today on my last day you could boil an egg in here.

Another practical thing I think would be worth examining is the efficacy of the door openers and closers the day before my discharge I had to collar accompany a passing cleaner so as to get him to push the door open enough for me to exit as The Closer mechanism is to strong to open especially when one is typically holding a stick in one's dominant hand.

I fully appreciate that the nurses have a busy routine every morning to get patients ready for the day ahead as well as all the ongoing tasks commensurate with inpatients such as fitting in the distribution of medication takings of blood pressure et cetera.

On this latter point I do wonder if it might be worth seeing if the oxygenation metres are recalibrated, my readings were frequently approximately 10 points down from the consistent readings I got at the Royal Free Hospital and also on my Apple watch, whilst this could be bona fide it would seem unlikely because the readings that I was regularly scoring at the NRC would indicate my survival in the long term is unlikely

I also wonder if it might be worth taking a step back and re-examining the routine for washing and showering patients

One of the most common gripes among we patients was that the peak times for showering meant that frequently it would not be possible for someone wanting a shower to get one.

Of course I completely appreciate why the concentration of demand for the showers between 7:30 AM and 9 AM is such that it is not practical for everyone who wants one to have a shower.

As I rather defiantly remarked one morning when my door was opened at about 6:20 on a cold February day – not that is ever called in room five and was asked did I want a shower or wash to which I replied I wanted neither a 9t least not at that time of day)

When I asked why it was really so essential that I shower or wash so early, one member of staff replied that it was so I was fresh and ready for the day.

On another occasion the reply was that I was going to hospital to which I rather sarcastically responded that yes I was going to hospital but I wasn't going for a job interview.

Of course as a civilised member of society I fully endorse the value of regular bodily hygiene inc

Given that the early morning is such a systemic stressor upon the available nurses and staff I do wonder if it will be prudent to consider a system whereby patients who did not wish to be showering at 6:30 AM could perhaps be showered later in the day.

There also seems to be a reasonably strong rehabilitation case for this

I don't think there is a single morning during my time at the NRC that I was not woken for my obs observation t follow

The benefits of sleep and the detriments of sleep deprivation are well documented and it seems to me that an alternative to the 6 AM observations might of course put extra demand between 6 and 9 AM but there might well be a benefit in terms of patient recuperation while the visible physical rehabilitation was extra extraordinarily impressive what was almost as valuable to me was the role of all the team and staff in helping myself and my fellow patients maintain a positive attitude and a feeling that we were individually cared for I can think of at least one occasion in which every single member of staff said or did something which was uplifting or helpful in terms of perspective class the universal positive remarks that I would get from staff who I barely knew congratulating me on my progress really helped one to feel that your individual case is of significance and that you are genuinely cared for – the significance of this to me was profound and very much welcomed especially when there were times when I was facing challenges in terms of my predicament and also maintain

I cannot endorse the NRC enough- they  have worked wonders for me!