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Care Opinion

A life of ups and downs

Posted By Viczt55

"A life of ups and downs"

About: Womens Medium Secure (Northampton) / Seacole

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

I have been a patient on Seacole Ward (Medium Secure Personality Disorder) for 14 months. I was assessed on Sunley Ward first where I was for 4 months. I would say that my overall care has been very mixed. Although I was making some progress with my DBT therapist (and Social Worker) they have now left and at the moment I feel a little bit lost and worried that my treatment will stop moving forwards.

Too many staff leaving in general is a problem at the moment and we seem to be struggling to recruit staff, especially senior ones. The remaining staff are very stressed as they often work a very long shift with no breaks and therefore are not always in the best of moods to deal with our problems. There has been a lot of staff/patient tension on the ward also with night staff. The patients themselves are often struggling and this causes more cases of self-harm - some severe. Sometimes the patients do not support each other when they could do more to help, but the most mentally ill patients can cause a lot of distress to the rest of us.

I feel that I do not have hardly any time to see my doctor. I don't find them very approachable or sympathetic. I wish that we could have some 1:1 time to discuss my care plans other than on Ward Rounds or CPA's.

I am also not happy about the extreme lack of physical health care. I have been complaining about a number of physical health concerns for ages now and still nothing is happening. I did see a GP once or twice but they did not agree with my concerns and pretty much told me to stop worrying and go away, I am in early 50ies now and I know I should be having a mammogram, and a general health check at this age. I have not seen the dentist in the whole 14 months I have been here.

I am happier that at least I am getting out for more exercise now and I go to the gym, dance, yoga whenever I can. I do my best to try to keep healthy and active.

At the moment I am on a progressive plan to get me out eventually into the community. I have my concerns that this may stop now as my DBT therapist has now left. It is very important to have goals to work towards so I hope this will get sorted out.

I do find on the positive side that there are some very hard working, caring staff on Seacole who have given me a lot of support and now I am also beginning to get back in touch with my family so I am very happy about that.

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Responses

Response from Barry Chinnock, Operational Lead, St Andrew's Healthcare 5 years ago
Barry Chinnock
Operational Lead,
St Andrew's Healthcare

Submitted on 16/11/2018 at 12:43
Published on Care Opinion on 19/11/2018 at 13:13

Thanks for your feedback. It sincerely is appreciated and provides opportunities to learn and grow as a service. I've had a good read of your posted story and feel that I am able to answer and evidence your concerns and issues raised. I'll answer each one in turn. If I happen to miss something or it creates further questions for you don't hesitate to get in touch or speak directly with the team on the ward.

Progress made to date and future goals; I do remember when you were first admitted to this hospital and the team on the ward and I, agree that great progress has been made. You now have a new DBT therapist and have received some individual therapy as well as the group session provided. I do appreciate how it must feel for you when a staff member you have been working closely with moves on in to seek new career challenges. However this will not impact on your progress momentum. Unfortunately you will know this is a reality in all work settings. As I write this I know that the final social work interview has been completed this morning - fingers crossed we have some positive news to follow!

Recruitment; Your ward has see a recent increase in permanent staffing joining the team. This includes HCA and registered nurses including a very experienced senior nurse. We also have a two more nurses due to join the team early next year. Based on our planned permanent staffing establishment we have 88% of staff in post or imminently due to start. I can assure you that recruitment and retention of staff is on-going and I'm confident we'll get to where we want to be. Any gaps in our staffing numbers are scheduled for and planned advance through our temporary workforce (WorkChoice or Agency)

Staff Support; if staff do miss breaks they are able to claim the time back, but I be clear this a rare occurrence. You have mentioned staff stress and mood. Having worked in healthcare for a very long time in different front-line roles I wouldn't deny that some situations can be stressful but the mood of staff shouldn't effect your care and treatment. There is extensive support available to staff, some of which is strongly advised and others are available as required.

Physical Health; As you will know we do have a primary care service based here within the hospital site. If the clinical team have already met with you and have assessed your physical healthcare complaints and do not consider there to be a need for further follow up I would personally take this as a good sign. Like you have mentioned you are physically active and enjoy a number of activities. My advice would be keep up the good work setting a fantastic example. Having looked into the breast screening programme I can see that women aged 50 - 70 and registered with a GP will automatically receive an invite for a mammogram. If you have not yet received your invite and are concerned I would suggest that you speak with your ward Dr, CNL or care co-ordinator. Likewise for a dentist appointment. I'll also drop the team a note to raise your concern.

I hope I have covered all the points raised. Like I have said previously if I haven't or you are not satisfied just speak out and let us know.

thanks

Barry

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