Visiting a friend in hospital last week I was reminded just how noisy hospital wards can be. My friend told me how difficult getting to sleep at night can be.  It’s not necessarily that the hospital staff or other patients make a lot of noise.  The electronic equipment that has become vital to patients’ survival creates its own rather alien sounds which of course continue throughout the day and night.

We have become attuned to the particular needs of hospital patients because via our website we send gifts to people in hospital on behalf of friends and family who cannot to visit them in person.  So it’s important that we offer a range of gifts that reflects what patients really want.

One of the gifts in our AFriendinNeed range is a “hospital survival kit”, which includes some ear plugs.  At first we included them mainly as a joke.  But visiting someone in a noisy ward has reminded us how vital ear plugs can be for a patient who wants an undisturbed night’s sleep.