Pyjama drama

Hospitals are banning patients from wearing pyjamas during the day to extol the health benefits of getting up and dressing. Department stores might complain. Sadly, oldfashioned men’s pyjamas – collared, full length, often silk – are in decline, and the only time that many men wear them are in hospital.

What the NHS fails to understand is that pyjamas are bought not only for comfort but also to be seen in: how else does one explain some of the designs? In the Eighties hospital-bound sitcom Only When I

Laugh, Peter Bowles wore pyjamas that were so loud they could do damage to the ears.

If administrators insist that dressing is a vital part of the healing process, then perhaps a compromise can be struck: purchasing two pairs. One for sleeping in and one for strolling about the ward.