Hospital Heat

[brawburd]

Why are hospitals so hot? And airless and uncomfortable. Surely this can't be healthy?!

[answerbok]

Why? - blinkered mindsets, cobwebbed paradigms; people in power should have think days and bigger suggestion boxes and Wake Up!

[darth vader]

minimal temperature requirements, airconditioning requirements, air filtering requirements. A huge building like this is impossible to make the temperature reasonable for everyone, all of the time

[darth vader]

...the idea of fresh air and opening windows is a good one but subject to infection from airborne bacteria/viruses and too big a risk

[katejess]

I quite agree....mind you, perhaps WCS exacerbates the problem!?! I have often wondered why hospitals are so hot and why I always end up having to go to them on the hottest days of the year.....just my rotten luck, I guess!

[answerbok]

Nothing personal, but you illustrate my point exactly Darth, about mindsets and narrow paradigms.. not in hospital management are you? "minimal temperature requirements, airconditioning requirements, air filtering requirements" - hey, what about people requirements.. no, it is not impossible to make the temperature reasonable for everyone, all of the time, narrow thinking, Opening windows too, that could let germs out. Too much 'jobsworthing' and blind rule following, they need to Wake up their ideas, [said the repetition].

[brawburd]

I've been a frequent hospital visitor this past few months (maybe I can claim care miles?!) As someone who has house windows open night n day all year round, I would feel suffocated in a ward without access to fresh air. The biggest infection threat in hospitals must be MRSA, fresh air didn't cause or continue this. And any airborne infections are surely more likely to come in via visitors or other patients, rather than through the window. I just can't see the need for the airless heat, and since other big buildings manage to regulate temps ....

[darth vader]

ha ha god no i don't work in this industry.

actually (and apologies in advance for my soapbox diatribe) i think the main reason is that they have to stick to the rules to the letter. Why? because we're turning into a USA-style society of suing the arse off the NHS every time something doesn't go according to plan, so they have to stick to legislation as dictated to them (regarding minimal temperature requirements, airconditioning requirements, air filtering requirements etc) to the letter and not allow themselves to be sued for negligence. Opening a window is just asking for trouble -someone's bound to sue them for a sore throat or something similar

[answerbok]

HA HA HA! (care miles).

[brawburd]

3 stars answerbok for liking my wee joke! :)

[lisaj]

For the same reason that a hot bath is a good way to rid yourself of a cold. The bugs are very finely evolved to suit our body climate. If you raise (or lower) the core body temperature, even by just half a degree, you can kill off a vast proportion of the bugs. Just a guess with respect to the hospitals, but I know this to be true...

[mushroom]

Some wards are kept at higher temperatures as this (contrary to what you might expect) reduces cross-infection. The life-cycle of pathogens is shortened, so they become less of a dormant threat and also some anti-pathogen measures disrupt the 'breeding' cycle so the quicker they reach this the quicker they die.