It’s unlikely that any of the three of us will still be around, but we can imagine how our children would describe their experience if they were admitted to the ICU in 2050. Here is what they might say: “The hospital is definitely smaller than in the past with lots of ICU beds, but very few other beds. And, it looks more like a five-star hotel than a hospital, with nice shops and restaurants in the lobby—it makes you forget you’re in hospital. My ICU room is fantastic! Really spacious, with a comfortable sofa for my family who can visit anytime. On the wall, there’s an enormous screen, which replaces all the small, noisy monitors I remember seeing in photos my dad had of his unit way back 40 years ago. A lot of the time the screen is blank, but it displays alarms when anything goes wrong and can show anything you want to see at the push of a button.

Read More