• Question: do you think that hospitals could be improved

    Asked by hollyheardx to Amit, Emily, Joanne, Martin, Paige on 14 Mar 2012.
    • Photo: Martin Wallace

      Martin Wallace answered on 12 Mar 2012:

      There are lots of things that could possibly improve hospitals, especially from my point of view as a bed designer. There are ways you can program the beds so that the information about a patient can be transmitted wirelessly to the nurses’ station; powered wheels so the porters and nurses don’t get injuries trying to move the beds; automatic scales built into the bed; beds that tilt from side to side to make it easier for nurses when turning patients; beds that can turn into chairs and help the patient stand up…plus anything else you can think of.
      All of this technology can be done now, but the problem is that it all costs money, and especially at the moment when healthcare trusts are trying to cut costs, we can’t afford to spend the money to develop something that no one can afford.

    • Photo: Joanne Davies

      Joanne Davies answered on 13 Mar 2012:

      Hello yet again hollyheardx!

      Hospitals could be improved on a lot.

      I have worked inside the NHS as an Engineer and they could do with a lot more Engineers there to help. Engineering is a very honourable profession and we have so much to offer.

      Engineers can improve the buildings, planning, transport, appointment systems, software and medical devices. We can make hospitals more efficient and successful and we can make a real difference to patient’s lives.

      These are just a few things we can help with, but I know there are loads more.

      Thanks for another good, thought provoking question.

    • Photo: Amit Pujari

      Amit Pujari answered on 14 Mar 2012:

      Yes! Hospitals could be improved. But hollyheardx, I think, your question has many sub-questions attached:
      whether hospitals should be government owned or private?
      who would manage them and how?
      how new technology could be quickly and safely introduced to them?

      If we look at the last question about ‘technology’, then this is mostly engineers job.
      And we can use latest research in ‘biomedical engineering’ to improve patient treatments etc. But even if you have the best technology in your hospitals, if you do not manage it well, it may not work.

      So everybody (engineers, doctors, managers, etc.) need to work together to improve hospitals…

    • Photo: Paige Brown

      Paige Brown answered on 18 Mar 2012:

      Hi Hollyheardx!

      I think that one of the biggest things that hospitals should improve is making sure that people don’t get sick because they come IN to the hospital. Hospitals are often places where, especially for the elderly, they contract bacterial infections that are in the hospital environment. Hospitals absolutely need to as clean as possible, and reduce the number of hospital-acquired bacterial infections.

      I’m sure that many other things could be improved as well, but that is just one!

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