"My time in the blair unit ipcu unit"

Dear heroox12,

I am disappointed to hear that your experience of the Blair Unit was you not as you, or I, would have hoped. All of our patients should be treated with care and compassion and every patient should be listened to and have the opportunity to be involved in conversations about their care. The environment you have described does not sound welcoming or helpful for the recovery of patients either.

I have forwarded your comments to the service for a response and also to be shared directly with the Blair Unit, and once I have heard back I will post it here on Patient Opinion - hopefully this won't be too long!

Best wishes,

Kirsten

Dear heroox12, please see below the response from the Directorate Nurse Manager for the Blair Unit:

Dear “heroox12”

Thank you for sharing your experience on the Patient Opinion Site. I am sorry that you had such an unpleasant experience when you were in the hospital. That’s not how we want people to feel whilst being cared for by us.

I’m sorry about the noise and realise this can be annoying. As you know, IPCU is a very busy ward caring for patients who are at their most unwell. Staff do carry alarms to ensure help and extra support is available to patients as quickly as possibly when necessary. However, the Senior Charge Nurse has made a request to Estates Department to have the doors looked at to see if any noise reduction can be introduced, so thank you for raising that.

Regarding cleanliness, I wanted to let you know that signs have also been put up in communal areas requesting that any concerns regarding the cleanliness of the environment be highlighted to the nurse in charge. Hopefully that will us sort this as they crop up.

You mention restraint too. We never use restraint lightly. The purpose of this intervention is always to keep the patients and others safe and is kept under constant and regular review.

I am really concerned and surprised to hear that you felt there was a bullying culture as staff work hard to ensure that all patients are treated in a person-centred way. A recent Mental Welfare Commission Report highlighted the good atmosphere in IPCU.

I am sad that you didn’t feel able to have a chat with the Senior Charge Nurse when you were in the ward. It would have been really good to try and sort things out at the time but I appreciate that can be difficult.

I am Directorate Nurse Manager for this ward, if you would like to contact me to discuss any of your concerns further I would be happy to speak to you. Feedback like yours helps us to improve and continue to give our patients the best possible experience when in our ward. My contact details are 01224 557443.

Best wishes

Shona Sinkins

Directorate Nurse Manager