Dear LPG,

I went to visit a friend at Lewisham Hospital not so long ago and I spotted a poster which introduced a new campaign that the hospital was promoting.  Lewisham hospital are reminding their visitors that, not all of the inpatients are so ill that they have to be confined to their beds all the time, even though they do have to stay in hospital so that their conditions can be monitored, and the effects of new treatments and medications can be checked.  The poster promotes the idea that a patient who is encouraged to wear day clothes as opposed to bed clothes all day is likely to recover more quickly.

In fact, the new campaign is quite an old one which I used to live by when I was young.   I had a sister who suffered from bouts of a chronic illness which kept her out of school quite a lot but, while recognising that special care had to be taken of her, our mother made a point of never letting her languish in bed more than she needed to, and even though she could not leave the house on many an occasion she would be encouraged to get out of bed, get dressed during the days, and do something.  Because of her illness she missed a lot of school so work was always being brought home for her and quite a bit of her time was spent on that, but my mother always had a project in store for her.

Now I am older I find myself trapped in my home sometimes because I have become a little more ill over the years, and it Is quite easy to not bother to go out as much as I used to, with the slightest hint of feeling under the weather being used as my provocation, but I think that there is an age-old message here.  The hospital is telling us how important routine is with this poster and we should be listening, and paying attention whether we are at home, or doing a stint as one of their patients.

When we were young enough to work, the thought of docked wages was often sufficient incentive to inspire us to make the effort to get up and get going but, within reason, perhaps we need to adopt the Hospital’s directive.  Even if we are not feeling 100%, we need to maintain the basic aspects of daily routine which are so truly important to our continued good health.

DW, Brockley