"Rose Ward - exemplary care"

Our son spent four months in the hospital as it took time to ascertain exactly what combination of medication would help restore his health.

During the first few months he needed one to one care 24/7 to ensure he didn't harm himself.

This is when we realised, hard though it was, that the ward was where he needed to be.

The staff understood how difficult it is to entrust the care of a loved one to complete strangers, offering words of encouragement and reassurance when we most needed them.

As anyone who has had personal experience of mental illness will appreciate, it is heartbreaking to watch a loved one disintegrate and feel unable to help.

As he improved, he was gradually encouraged to take part in therapeutic activities away from the ward and then spend time with family and friends away from the hospital.

With each step back to 'normality' we could see him getting better.

Building his self confidence and self esteem was an important part of his recovery.

Throughout our son's time on Rose ward the team of doctors, nurses and health care workers exhibited compassion, understanding and care.

They are very special people.

Thanks to their dedication and patience, we have our son back.

I have a few suggestions which you might wish to consider to make a patient and carers's experience even better: 1. Avoid moving a patient to another ward during their stay if possible as this definitely affected our son's recovery.

2. Make admission to the ward as swift as possible given both patient and carer/s are in a vulnerable state.

3. Linked to point 2 ensure that staff on the ward are properly prepared regarding the patient's condition to avoid the need for carer/s to repeat information to each new person they meet.