Clothes shopping for hospital patient

Owain_Moneysaver

Elderly lady relative in hospital hundreds of miles away needs nighties and lady's unmentionables.

Suggestions welcomed from a reputable online emporium who offer comfortable rather than fashionable garments (preferably suitable for hospital or care home laundry) and who can do fast, preferably next-day, delivery to hospital.

I've look at Fiftyplus but all the models look about 45 rather than Seventyplus.

kerri_gt

I would follow the safe route and look on the marks and spencer or bhs websites, both should have what you're looking for and will likely offer some kind of express delivery service, though do hospitals allow deliveries to patients / accept parcels on patients behalves? Might be worth checking that out first - if not, is there a friend of the relative who is able to visit and you could have the items delivered there?

Owain_Moneysaver

is there a friend of the relative who is able to visit

Not frequently, no, hence the consideration for ordering new stuff rather than taking relative's own clothes in from home.

elsien

Damart do big pants, if that's what she's looking for. Not sure if they do nighties, but as the previous person said m&s or bhs should cover that.

Mrs_Ryan

Bonmarche are excellent and a bit cheaper than M&S and BHS. When I worked on a care of the elderly ward virtually all of the ladies clothes came from there. Their stuff is quite hardwearing as well.

whitewing

My hospital-staying elderly relative wears sloggi knickers, M and S knee length, v neck, short sleeved nighties and M & S bras.

She also has a waffle type dressing gown as it is mostly too warm for anything else. And a soft cardigan or bed jacket to put on over her nightie if she is in the chair on a window-side bed as the dressing gown can be more difficult to put on and off herself with various injuries.

Is there no chance of visiting her, and then nipping out and getting the stuff? My experience is that the elderly keep tabs on whether other patients are having visitors.

It can also be difficult for them to get to the ward phone. Does she have a mobile? Could you get a cheap one? I am sure someone would read texts from you to her. Other patients' visitors are usually quite kindly and will chat to someone who smiles at her, and would probably be willing to help her text.

One of the big hospitals that I went to recently had shops on the ground floor. If so, could someone take her down to select and you pay over the phone?

If she is having surgery she may need to stay in hospital nighties with no knickers.

jenniewb

I've been in hospital a few times and have had a few elderly/older relatives admitted for longer stays over the years too, M&S tends to be a good fail-safe as things tend to be more likely to be comfortable and they wash well. Don't make the mistake of assuming Primark is great as it's cheap; some things last for a few washes, but in my experience it takes a lot of practice to know what will distort with a single wash or what will bobble.


I can also suggest looking in BHS as they do sometimes have some well made items (dressing gowns are good) but the prices aren't that different from M&S and I've got not as much experience so I can't really say BHS is better than M&S when I don't really know myself.
If you have a Sparks card (and have registered it) M&S have a 20% off day (not sure how long it lasts) tomorrow but I'd not be suprized if places like BHS and Debenhams do something similar.


If M&S isn't your thing, John Lewis and other department stores (House of Fraser for eg) will likely have suitable items too as it tends to be quite difficult to find items suitable for older people IME.

Owain_Moneysaver

I will try Bonmarche. I also found Designed To Care which do 'adaptive' clothes although they're expensive they're designed for hospital use.

Is there no chance of visiting her, and then nipping out and getting the stuff? My experience is that the elderly keep tabs on whether other patients are having visitors.

I wish. I am nearly 10 hours away and she has been moved to a hospital 3 hours away from her home so friends and neighbours find it difficult to visit. The others in the ward apparently have difficulty keeping tabs on their own names, never mind visitors. Don't know yet whether she will be moving hospitals - no point in travelling to one hospital to find I have to detour to another. This is an area with very poor public transport.

I don't expect the hospital has a clothes shop - it only has 7 wards, and not enough staff to get patients to the toilet quickly enough, never mind shopping.

heuchera

There's actually loads of granny-style nighties on EBay, possibly old or discontinued M&S stock, if you know her size and what style she likes?

teddysmum

I was passing time walking round our local Bon Marche, last week and noticed that a lot of their nighties were old lady types (some in brushed fabric and most with short sleeves and three or four buttons); too old for me (in my sixties) but I bought two long T-shirt nighties with cute animal designs.

Apollonia

I would check the Royal Voluntary Service website (used to be the WRVS) and ask for help from them if they have volunteers near the hospital - the home page specifically mentions supporting people in hospital.
http://www.royalvoluntaryservice.org.uk/get-help?gclid=CNOe7KWRyskCFUWe2wod4ggEZg

It's that practical little bit of help that makes all the difference – whether at home, getting them to where they want to go, bringing people together through social activities or supporting them in hospital.
Our aim is to provide the support that enables older people to live independent and fulfilled lives – we want everybody to matter, regardless how old they are.

ETA Or if your relative is a WI/church/any other national organisation member, the local branch may be able to help.