"Noise on wards and sleeping - heart monitors"

I spent time on Burrator ward Derriford, occupying a bed a didn't really need and didn't want. It was really frustrating to be feeling well but to be ‘occupying’ a bed when ‘all’ I was waiting for was a blood test and a CT scan. The queue for these diagnostics seems to be responsible for a big waste of money for NHS - and waste of time for me. I could be back at work and do the scan and blood tests as an outpatient.

I came in via A and E on the Monday. By Tuesday the consultant had worked out a plan - that Wednesday I should have a CT scans and be discharged to come back as an outpatient for a colonoscopy. A very sensible plan. 

So - at 8am I was ready. But there was no info as to when the scan might be. In the afternoon the registrar said I could be discharged and also have the scan as an outpatient - a good adaptation to the continuing information black out from diagnostics. Later he told me - he had now been given a time - 5.40pm. So I would wait, have the scan then be discharged. Again good adaptation in the face of the unpredictable diagnostics.

5.40 came and no sign of ‘porter’ (even though I could walk there unaided). Ward sister phones to find they couldn’t do it now- it would have to be 9am tomorrow. There’s now no discharge letter available- so I have to stay overnight again - using a bed I do not need and certainly do not want. Apparently it is now not possible to go back to the ‘do as outpatient’ option.

I understand that it is difficult to predict the workloads of different diagnostics in a large hospital- but was it really not possible to have included me as a scan that day? It was costing the hospital to have me needlessly using a bed. Could there not be some AI that helps to both make good use of expensive equipment but also take account of the ‘knock on’ impacts?

I also wanted to raise an issue that significantly impacted the ward environment, especially overnight — namely, the constant beeping of bedside heart monitors, even when no clinical concern was present.

These repetitive audible signals made it extremely difficult to sleep. I understand that monitors provide vital real-time data to staff, and that alarms are essential in detecting emergencies. However, the constant non-critical beeping, particularly when it merely confirms a stable heart rhythm, seems unnecessary — especially when many hospitals are now trialling or implementing quieter alternatives.

I’ve read about several hospitals and medical technology providers adopting more patient-friendly solutions: Such as routing them to nurses’ mobile devices instead of bedside.

In the meantime—another sleepless night.