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Care Opinion

It's too restrictive

Posted By Sopqd39

"It's too restrictive"

About: St Andrew's Healthcare Essex / Colne

(as a staff member posting for a patient/service user),

I have been here for one year and came here from prison. To be honest I preferred it in prison because you had more freedom there. The only thing that is different is that in prison I you don't have any leave. We can only go to the Blue Tree at set times which I don't think is fair as I have certain groups at certain times so I miss out. We are not allowed food and drink on the ward, because people mis-use bottles. This should be individual not the same for everyone. We only get 15 minutes to spend in the Blue Tree which is not enough time as the queues are long and it is difficult to drink hot drinks quickly. I am not happy because of the restrictions. It all depends what you have on your timetables. I am not sure how long I will be here but I am not happy here.

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Responses

Response from St Andrew's Healthcare 6 years ago
St Andrew's Healthcare

Submitted on 16/05/2017 at 12:09
Published on Care Opinion at 15:47

Thank you for sharing your feedback with us. I am sorry to hear that you feel restricted on Colne. Access to the Blue Tree Café is not restricted to 15 minutes. Times are non-specific and are gauged in relation to what is going on on the ward, how many patients want to go etc etc. There are no set times for access to the café however we do stipulate that if a patient is scheduled to attend a therapeutic group, this should take priority before access to the café is facilitated. There is free access to the café during the weekend.

To ensure we meet the need for snacks on the ward, you are allowed to bring up to 3 snack items including drinks which can be consumed immediately or stored in the kitchen. No fresh food is allowed to be stored due to the risk of infection. Patients having access to bottles has been reviewed as this is not a current risk on the ward. We prefer patients to have their own water bottle and if they would like to purchase one, we ask that they discuss this at their Care Plan Update Meeting so that the MDT can perform a risk assessment. Agreement to this is purely on an individualised basis – there is no blanket rule in place.

I hope this goes some way to answer the concerns raised but I would urge you to discuss any further concerns you may have with your care co-ordinator and in community meetings so that we can work with you.

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