Peter Williams: People with dementia are still people

Euthanasia suggestions offensive

As I approach my 70th birthday, it’s an unbelievable privilege to have a living parent.

My old Mum (born a week before her parents married in 1931! ) turns 93 in a few weeks.

Until a couple of months ago she was generally keeping decent health but then had a fall in her retirement village apartment. That meant a couple of weeks in hospital and the realization – in my view and that of medical staff - that she couldn’t live alone anymore.

Mixed-gender hospital rooms are on the rise in New Zealand, but the practice is unsafe and unethical

Mixed-gender rooms are increasingly common in New Zealand’s hospitals, based on evidence from hospital complaints and a large Wellington study.

But our new research demonstrates that placing men and women in the same hospital room is unsafe and unethical.

Mixed-gender bedding practices have been banned in the United Kingdom since 2010. Breaches are publicly reported and lead to fines for the hospital.