Couldn't they just have one piece of paper with basic information and a bar code or QR code to scan
You wear a wrist-band with your name DOB and other essential info on it. I seem to remember there's a QR code as well - not that anyone ever scanned it. And all the medication runs and regular blood pressure tests, the first thing they asked me was my name and date of birth.. Which would seem to make the wristband redundant. I suppose it might be useful if someone passes out or is unresponsive though.
And it's clear that, in a less well-run ward, the staff don't even know the basic medical info of the patients - my first stay in hospital, when I was nil-by-mouth, I wasn't offered a drip (as is mandated for t2 diabetcs) and I had to go into a hypo and press the emergency button for them to actually fit me with one.
The second stay (3 weeks later, after the infection that the first stay had failed to clear out had already eaten my thumb cartilage and one of tendons attached to the thumb joint) they were much better. Had the proper intake assessment (no - he's fully mobile, doesn't need bed sore mitigation, can take himself to the loo) and the fact that I'm T2 diabetic on DMARDs[1] was properly put into my notes.
[1] Disease modifying antirheumatic drug - something that suppresses the immune system to hopefully damp down psoriatic arthritis. I stopped taking it when I went into hospital with an acture infection from a cat bite. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disease-modifying_antirheumatic_drug
Biting the hand that feeds IT
