The invention relates to a hospital bed and/or care bed (1) with a lateral rail. The lateral rail comprises an outer post (30) and a central post (70), each of which has a lower rotational point (32, 72) for pivotally mounting the posts on the frame of the bed (1), on a retaining element secured to the bed, or on a guide (80) secured to the bed, and the lateral rail further comprises at least two longitudinal braces (40, 50, 60). The first ends of each of the braces are pivotally mounted on the outer post (30), and a brace guide (45, 150, 160) is provided for the second ends in order to fix the position and orientation of the second ends of the longitudinal braces (40, 50, 60) relative to the central post (70) such that the lateral rail can be brought into an upright position from a folded position by pivoting the two posts (30, 70) about the lower rotational points (32, 72).