Beer in hospitals
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: Coasting South
Age: 66
Posts: 68
Back in the day as a blood donor the nurses who extracted an arm full would encourage me to drink Guinness. I should have asked if they cared to join me.
Last edited by hiflymk3; 19th Aug 2020 at 16:03.
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: One Three Seven, Disco Heaven.
Age: 62
Posts: 1,692
When I went in for my triple bypass in 2017, I was offered a bottle of miniature whisky the night before. I didn't take it, as despite being Scottish, I don't really like whisky.
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: SW England
Age: 74
Posts: 3,865
Mrs TTN was a QA midwife at BMH Hong Kong in 1967-69. She remembers dispensing Guinness to the Gurkha wives who made up a good percentage of the clientele in the maternity wards. She recalls they were much keener on the dark liquid than the 'Brit' wives, many of whom refused the offer. Maybe they would have preferred a San Mig!
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: uk
Posts: 880
My grandmother was told to drink half a pint of Guiness every evening by her wise old GP, when she was 70 in 1950. She followed this instruction for the rest of her life, and 25 years later was living proof, bright, cheerful, active, no missing marbles, that Guiness does you a power of good.
Cunning Artificer
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: The spiritual home of DeHavilland
Age: 73
Posts: 3,122
In 1965 while on an apprenticeship at RAF Halton I broke my ankle. I was admitted to PMRAF Hospital, Halton where the RAF, not being NHS, kept you in bed and didn't put on a plaster until the swelling subsided. I was in for ten days. Every evening we were issued a bottle of stout (Mackeson, not Guiness) after the evening meal. It was the only time in my RAF service that I was issued with free beer! 
Plastic PPRuNer
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: Cape Town
Posts: 1,895
A bottle of stout or a glass of sherry is excellent for older people in the evenings. It is cheering, good for them and they sleep much better than with addictive prescription drugs. And my mum was encouraged to drink a bottle of Guiness a day when she was pregnant with me and my brother (we both became doctors)
I still gave the older folks the choice of a small bottle of wine with the evening meal until the authorities stopped it. It improved their appetite and they slept better.
Mac
I still gave the older folks the choice of a small bottle of wine with the evening meal until the authorities stopped it. It improved their appetite and they slept better.
Mac
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: Peripatetic
Posts: 10,983
No, that was Phyllosan...
https://player.bfi.org.uk/free/film/...is-1951-online
I remember watching the ads as a kid and thinking nobody gets that old....
https://player.bfi.org.uk/free/film/...is-1951-online
I remember watching the ads as a kid and thinking nobody gets that old....
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Bedford, UK
Age: 67
Posts: 1,273
Originally Posted by ORAC
No, that was Phyllosan...
https://player.bfi.org.uk/free/film/...is-1951-online
I remember watching the ads as a kid and thinking nobody gets that old....
https://player.bfi.org.uk/free/film/...is-1951-online
I remember watching the ads as a kid and thinking nobody gets that old....
Nigerian In Law
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Haven't been there, never done that.
Age: 62
Posts: 1,014
Under certain circumstances alcohol was made available in NHS hospitals until 2012. Not sure if it still is ? When I was a long term inpatient a trolley manned by RVS people was wheeled round every day with Guiness and various spirits for cancer patients.
Unfortunately I threw up every time I drank booze, but I kept trying !
NEO
Unfortunately I threw up every time I drank booze, but I kept trying !
NEO
Join Date: Apr 2018
Location: North of Watford Gap
Posts: 25
I remember visiting the other halfs grandma in hospital in Lincoln in about 1989. When the tea trolley was doing the rounds there was a big brown medicine bottle on top. This was full of whiskey that was liberally added to each cup of tea.
I rmember my mum telling me all breastfeeding mpthers on a marternity ward where offered a bottle of stout every night as well No wonder I grew up to like it.
I rmember my mum telling me all breastfeeding mpthers on a marternity ward where offered a bottle of stout every night as well No wonder I grew up to like it.
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: The Smaller Antipode
Age: 86
Posts: 25
My grandmother was told to drink half a pint of Guiness every evening by her wise old GP,
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: South East Asia
Posts: 409
I believe I'm the third person here to recall that Princess Mary's RAF Hospital, Halton served beer regularly, I was a patient there circa 1967 and was very surprised when asked, "Would you like a light ale with your dinner?" Of course I said "yes." I also remember the nurses wearing those enormous, heavily starched, head-dress thingies, how on earth they could work and keep them in place was a total mystery to me.
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: E.Wash State
Posts: 0
Originally Posted by Danny G
I remember visiting the other halfs grandma in hospital in Lincoln in about 1989. When the tea trolley was doing the rounds there was a big brown medicine bottle on top. This was full of whiskey that was liberally added to each cup of tea.
I rmember my mum telling me all breastfeeding mpthers on a marternity ward where offered a bottle of stout every night as well No wonder I grew up to like it.
I rmember my mum telling me all breastfeeding mpthers on a marternity ward where offered a bottle of stout every night as well No wonder I grew up to like it.
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 57
Posts: 84
Oddly enough, I forgot about my own experience! I broke my hand and needed to have various bits of metal inserted at RAF Hospital Ely.
I had the operation on a Thursday, but they kept me in for a few days (infection observation and control they said - I reckon they just wanted to wait for the twice weekly MT run back to nearby camps)!
Anyway, Friday night came around and A***, a Cpl. Nurse appeared shortly after our evening meal with a notebook and pen, "What do you drink?" "Tea, no sugar please."
"No, what to you drink? It's Friday, and nobody on this ward is actually ill, you're all just a wee bit snapped, so we have an off-licence run on a Friday, so what will it be?"
Downside? He also collected payment from us, it wasn't provided as part of the service.
Upside? I had to go back again a few weeks later to get the metal taken out. 😊
I had the operation on a Thursday, but they kept me in for a few days (infection observation and control they said - I reckon they just wanted to wait for the twice weekly MT run back to nearby camps)!
Anyway, Friday night came around and A***, a Cpl. Nurse appeared shortly after our evening meal with a notebook and pen, "What do you drink?" "Tea, no sugar please."
"No, what to you drink? It's Friday, and nobody on this ward is actually ill, you're all just a wee bit snapped, so we have an off-licence run on a Friday, so what will it be?"
Downside? He also collected payment from us, it wasn't provided as part of the service.
Upside? I had to go back again a few weeks later to get the metal taken out. 😊
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: UK
Age: 78
Posts: 56
Sometime in the 1970's I ended up in the Nelson Hospital after a bike accident. Once I became semi-mobile, Sister gave me the job of taking the stout trolley round in the evening with strict instructions about who was allowed a bottle. I got one as a reward for my "help" !
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: northofwhereiusedtobe
Posts: 1,344
Back in the early 70's when I was a 19 yo J/T,our 'old' Sqn leccy Cpl went for a 'Sign On' medical (I assume he was 30/35 ish and wanted to sign on to 22),the medic told him that he needed to quit drinking (tis true he was usually to be seen in the NAAFI bar every lunchtime and evening) - so he duly did literaly quit drinking (cold turkey).
A couple of days later he fell over - when we visited him in SSQ he was happily sitting up in bed with a beer as supplied by the quack
.
I cannot remember if he did manage to sign on but we all thought it quite amusing at the time
A couple of days later he fell over - when we visited him in SSQ he was happily sitting up in bed with a beer as supplied by the quack
.I cannot remember if he did manage to sign on but we all thought it quite amusing at the time
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Farnham Surrey
Age: 71
Posts: 4
69, in Stonehouse Naval Hospital, Guzz (Plymouth). After the removal of my wisdom teeth on the table. The ward sister would visit in the evening with a large basket on her arm holding 24 bottles of beer from light ale to Guinness, of which we allowed one bottle.
