Last week, my daughter was hospitalized. What started as a fever turned out to be a uterine infection. After a course of antibiotics and a couple of hectic days at the hospital, I’m relieved and happy to say she’s doing great now. Among all the difficult experiences we faced as parents, one particularly unpleasant incident stands out.

It was the second day at the hospital, and my baby was recovering well. We were in a twin-sharing room with another baby, just eight months old, suffering from a high fever. The problem arose when the other family insisted on keeping the AC off, believing it would help their feverish baby. Meanwhile, my baby, feeling hot and cranky due to post-fever effects, was uncomfortable. We also felt suffocated. We requested they turn on the AC, setting it to a reasonable 26 degrees. However, shortly after, we found the AC turned off again.

We decided to escalate the matter to the authorities. Long story short, we spent a couple of hours fighting and convincing them for a new single-occupancy room. Our attempt was not to disturb the other family. We could empathise with their situation.

Our point was simple: two babies with different air conditioning needs in one room was a bad idea. We proposed solutions:

1. Preset the room temperature or have centralized control to avoid disputes.
2. Group children with similar temperature requirements together.

Our feedback wasn’t well received. The management told us we needed to adjust. I repeatedly asked how we could adjust with the AC completely turned off?

I’m sure similar incidents have occurred in the past, only to be dismissed or compromised. It took the hospital system two hours to resolve this issue, a frustrating and exhausting experience for both parents and the recovering child. I’m also certain there is no record of this event in their system. And without such records, these events will repeat.

The best systems store feedback and bad experiences. History only repeats itself when the system fails to keep an account of events, especially the bad ones.