Elm Ward is meant to be single sex accommodation but they have male members of staff who even go into women's bedrooms when we're asleep. This may be to wake female patients up, but it's distressing for many women to wake up to a male stranger standing over them.
Staff on Elm Ward appear poorly trained. I ask them for copies of harm minimisation policy & admissions/discharge policy. They say they cant find them. It takes nearly a week to give me one & I never get the admissions/discharge policy. They dont follow the policies or even seem aware of their content.
I sleep through supper. I ask for a sandwich. Staff refuse. They tell me to eat the only snack provided - sickly, yellowed oranges that lie untouched in a plastic bowl. Citrus fruit causes me bad indigestion due to acid reflux disease. I'm also diabetic; they still refuse a sandwich. The staff are furious when I tell managers.
I hear staff telling patients that they aren't allowed advocates because they arent detained. Not true. All patients can access an advocate. I meet many informal patients led to believe they cant leave the ward without staff permission but when I alert managers Im seen as a trouble maker & described as 'challenging'. I see no evidence any staff are concerned that informal patients don't know they can leave. There is a tiny notice on one door where this information is buried. Ward Welcome Packs would include information on rights to leave but while I'm there patients on Elm Ward aren't given welcome packs. I ask for one but never receive it.
The ward culture seems filled with psychobabble. Ward Rounds & Multidisciplinary Team meetings are now described as 'formulation' meetings. Discharge meetings are also called 'formulation' meetings. It seems to me 'formulation' has replaced following NICE guidelines for treatment with 'care plans' informed mainly by the whims, prejudices & folk psychology of whatever staff are on the ward at the time.
I'm threatened with police for recording my consultations - which I do in line with the trusts own policy. Staff appear furious. They say if I record them they wont speak to me, only nod or shake their heads. They decide to discharge me.
Im discharged without 3rd sector staff (who are my only mental health support in the community) being informed of the discharge meeting. I'm given insufficient notice of the formulation (discharge) meeting. The staff give me a discharge plan done without me & include all the personal details of another patient on the plan. The discharge leaflet is so out-of-date it still has NHS Direct on it.
Im discharged contrary to my views on my safety & against the advice of people who know me. Some patients tell me they are back on the ward because they were discharged prematurely too. Other patients tell me they are disgusted by how Im being treated. The ward staff call the police to remove me, as I've witnessed them do to other patients.
Im readmitted to the wards less than 48hours later.
"Elm Ward, West Park Hospital Darlington: Dire."
About: West Park Hospital West Park Hospital Darlington DL2 2TS
Posted via nhs.uk
- Story from
- nhs.uk
Do you have a similar story to tell?
Tell your story & make a difference
››
Responses
See more responses from West Park Hospital