I was lying in an uncomfortable hospital bed with a drip in one arm and a pulse monitor on my finger, trying to sleep as midnight crept ever closer.
As a machine bleeped at my side, I wondered if I was imagining the flashing lights I kept seeing all around me on the ward, still woozy from the anaesthetic.
I soon realised I was not hallucinating. Nor was I experiencing a thunderstorm.
Instead, those flashes were coming from beneath the curtain of the female patient in the cubicle next to me.
She was taking ‘hospital selfies’, lying there in the darkness on a post-surgical ward, taking photos for social media.
The term hospital selfie, if you are not familiar with it, is a picture taken by those patients who feel it necessary to document their stay with attention-seeking online updates.
Sometimes, it’s an image of an arm with a drip in it accompanied by the phrase: ‘Had better days.’ At others, it’s a pair of feet sticking out from a standard-issue hospital blanket. An acquaintance of mine once posted a selfie from just outside a CT scanner with the caption: ‘I’m going in!’ and a smiley emoji underneath.
And last week, actress Suki Waterhouse shared a photo on X of the time she was hospitalised with a hernia, gown on and blue vape pen just in shot.
Suki Waterhouse’s selfie with a vape pen while in hospital receiving treatment for a hernia
To say these make me cringe is an understatement; I hate them.
And, on this night in hospital after having my gallbladder removed, I had to lie there in a great deal of pain as my fellow patient snapped and snapped, no doubt posting to all and sundry what should be a private experience – while all I wanted was to get a few hours’ sleep.
I thought I was alone in finding this phenomenon irritating, but now even NHS staff are complaining.
Last month, the Society of Radiographers (SoR) raised concerns about staff feeling uncomfortable when patients post selfies and videos to TikTok or Instagram of their procedures.
They are calling for it to be mandatory to seek permission before attempting to film any such procedure.
And I say, high time!
In fact, on its website, the SoR has said: ‘Patients who video their medical treatment for uploading to social media risk publicising other patients’ medical information and compromising their own treatment.
‘These videos also make healthcare staff uncomfortable and anxious – which can similarly undermine treatment.’
In addition to Suki Waterhouse, everyone from Lily Allen (pictured) to Miley Cyrus and Kim Kardashian have posted pictures of themselves receiving medical care
One NHS staff member said she had barely slept all weekend after being videoed during a procedure with her name badge on show. You see, for staff who work there, hospital is not a TikTok or Instagram set. It’s their real life.
And I’d argue if you’re well enough to take selfies and post videos from your hospital bed, do you belong there at all?
Once my husband almost felt my wrath when our son broke his arm. Cornel whipped his phone out to take a picture of Alex – then eight – for ‘being brave’, plaster cast and all, suggesting he post it on Facebook. ‘Don’t you dare!’ I yelled, batting the phone away. I mean, is nothing sacred?
Of course, I understand new mums posting a selfie with their baby. That’s acceptable.
But I really do not want to scroll past images of people hooked up to oxygen masks, raising a tired thumbs-up from a hospital trolley or – horror of horrors – the ubiquitous ‘hilarious’ post holding a cardboard bed pan. What is wrong with people? Can they not last five minutes without a ‘look-at-me’ moment? Did these people not get enough attention from their mothers in childhood when they fell and cut their knee?
Celebs are some of the worst offenders. In addition to Suki Waterhouse, everyone from Lily Allen to Miley Cyrus and Kim Kardashian have posted pictures of themselves receiving medical care. I find it alien to want to share images of yourself at your most vulnerable and often looking your worst, too.
Frankly, it baffles me.
So, Society of Radiographers, I am with you. And I think more NHS bodies should put their foot down. Let’s call time on this egomaniacal, invasive practice. No, your hospital selfies do not inspire my sympathy so much as embarrassment and a weary eyeroll.
And if that makes me unsympathetic, so be it.
