Health and safety killjoys ban get-well cards in hospital ...

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The "get well soon" card has long been accepted as a way ofcheering up a loved one stuck in hospital.
John Nickolls sent one to his Aunt Edna as she recovered after afall and expected to see it beside her bed when he visited.

To his surprise, however, there was no sign of it or of any othercards on the ward.

Diagnosed as clutter: John Nickolls with the card his aunt was toldshe couldn't have by her hospital bed
When he asked his elderly aunt why, she told him she had sent thecard home because staff had forbidden her from putting it up by herbedside in order to keep the area free of clutter for the cleaners.

Mr Nickolls said: "We wanted to cheer her up and there aren't manythings you can give to someone who is ill.

"I thought it was taking away something very important from someonewho wasn't very well. If I was on a ward, I'd like to receivecards."

He had earlier been stopped by a senior nurse at Frenchay Hospitalin Bristol from taking in flowers for his aunt because plants werebanned "for health and danger reasons".
"We had never heard of this before and can only assume it is due toany bugs in the flowers or vases being knocked over," said MrNickolls, a 73-year-old retired fund-raiser from Brislington, nearBristol.

"We asked if they could be left in a dayroom or nurses' quartersbut this was also rejected and they wouldn't dispose of them so thealternative was to bin them or bring them home."

Mr Nickolls added: "Frenchay is a wonderful hospital but it seems ashame people can't receive cards or flowers. They could maybe putthe cards and flowers in an area away from the beds."

His aunt, who is in her nineties, is recovering at home in Bristol.

Hospital bosses said senior nurses would ask for cards to be movedif they were taking up too much space and said flowers werediscouraged because they could clutter lockers and hamper cleaning.

But Kate Jopling, of Help The Aged, said: "Many older people findget well cards to be a reassuring and pleasant distraction fromillness while in hospital.

"While we fully understand the paramount importance of keepinghospital wards clean and tidy we can't help wondering whether thisisn't a case of using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

'We would hope that with a bit of flexible thinking it would bepossible to allow older people to recover with appropriate supportfrom family and friends."

Richard Cottle, of North Bristol NHS Trust, which runs FrenchayHospital, said: "We don't prevent patients displaying get wellcards on the wards.

"However, maintaining a clean environment and reducing infection isthis trust's number one priority.

"It is particularly important that the area around the patient'sbed is kept as clean as possible and is free of clutter so ourcleaners can get complete access.

"Responsibility for cleanliness lies with the sister-in-charge oneach ward and if they feel cards on display by a patient's bedsideare getting in the way of domestic staff, they will ask them to betaken down.

"We hope this particular patient and their family understand thevery good reasons why they were asked to do this."

Earlier this year, parents visiting Birmingham's Children'sHospital were advised to bring new soft toys in factory- sealedboxes to prevent the spread of superbugs.

The guidance stemmed from concerns that toy fabric is a breedingground for MRSA and Clostridium difficile.