Hospital Staff & Family Caregivers in London - Phantom Bus Stops

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗮 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝗱𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹? 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝟰 Back after a while, caught up with the realities of London living but wanted to share something I’ve been thinking about; 𝗣𝗵𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗼𝗺 𝗕𝘂𝘀 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗽𝘀. Phantom bus stops are bus stops where buses never arrive. They’re usually placed in hospital units with 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆. It feels tricky, I’m aware. As are most things when it comes to consent and dementia. But beyond reddit discourse, as someone who has seen both, the phantom bus stop and dementia up close, I have some thoughts. I’ve seen it not only give some form of immediate relief to a dementia patient who insists that they want to go home, but also acts as a physical space for clinicians to 𝗺𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗲, 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲 𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲. And that’s what I do love about human-centred design. It’s not about what’s objectivelyright and wrong, it’s about us as people, as we are. I'm building a repository with 𝗹𝗼𝘄-𝗰𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻-𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹𝘀 with some incredible people. If you’ve been in and around hospitals and got things to share, drop me a line, I’d love to hear. Picture at Guys and St. Thomas, London.