To think people in mental health units

[Tellmelies65]

Aren’t being thought about. My dsis is currently in one after being moved there from a medical ward. She’s allowed no leave from the hospital and no Visits. She struggles in there a lot with the noise and can’t get any rest bite from it.

I've had many admissions to adult mental health wards varying from 2 weeks to 6 months.
I think some ppl think you get your own room to put pictures up and you get daily therapy.

In fact it's very noisy and it can be scary as it's mixed sex wards. There are 6 bedded rooms. The 5 single rooms tend to be for the manic/paranoid and those coming off drugs.

There's supposed to be daily groups but they're bately done. Sometimes the only time you see a nurse is when you get your medication.

The thought of not getting out to get peace will mske it 100 times worse. Parients will not cope with this and id expextan increase in violent behaviour.

Yup. When my mum was in we were allowed half an hour a day. The rest of the time she was just left to her own devices. Which as you can imagine, wasn't that healthy.

When there was a suggestion that mothers might need to go through labour without a partner there was outrage, yet most are OK with people in mental distress being isolated from their families for months at a time

I don’t think you can compare those situations. A woman in labour is likely to be in hospital 24 hours or less, single room, often in severe pain and distress or a life-threatening situation. Midwives can’t stay with her the entire time, so having a birthing partner helps reduce the risk to her. Eg if she bleeds out or falls or labour suddenly progresses faster than expected, the mother may not be able to reach the emergency alarm. Also birth is an event the father often wants be a part of, cut the cord, hold his newborn child, support his wife through a c-section if needed.

Patients detained under the mental health act may need to stay in hospital for months. They don’t always have single rooms, many are in shared bays with 4 or 6 beds per bay. Patients mix in communal areas, activity rooms, lounges etc. One patient with covid (eg caught on leave) could quickly spread it to everyone while asymptomatic. Also not all patients on MH wards are able to understand or remember social distancing.

I guess it varies then.

All the units in our hospital are single en-suite rooms. None are shared. You can have your own stuff. I think you could put up a poster if you want to as long as no nails were involved.

There is not daily 1:1 psychological therapy indeed. There are groups run by the OT or psychologist every week day. Your are supposed to get daily 1:1 time with your primary nurse. I will admit that doesn't always happen if it's very busy.

There is a garden you can go out in any time with free access although it's not huge and you can't smoke in there.

The food is shit. The other patients will often be noisy and disturbed. Not much can really be done about that apart from make them better which takes time.

It isn't a peaceful oasis of calm and it can never be due to the nature of mental illness. People who are manic and floridly psychotic do often shout, behave in a chaotic fashion and not sleep. The only alternative would be to heavily chemically sedate people which is not considered acceptable any longer for very good reason.

When there was a suggestion that mothers might need to go through labour without a partner there was outrage, yet most are OK with people in mental distress being isolated from their families for months at a time

Who is ok with this?

I’m not and neither are any of my many colleagues who work in mh. It’s utterly miserable at the moment. We do actually care for those we work with. We don’t want to work under these conditions but we have to limit the covid risk as much as possible many not only have mh diagnosis they also have medical conditions that put them at a higher risk as does some medication they take

Has anyone given much thought of the impact of the fear Covid is having on patients or those in community units. That keeping them safe as possible from catching covid can also ease their fears.

Please don’t think just because patients are taking medication, have a supportive team around them that their mental health can not deteriorate very quickly it can And having covid on a ward/unit it is not just about managing that persons physical health it has (or for us it has) had an impact on theirs and other people’s mh. Having visitors come in and out would not only increase the risk of covid it would absolutely have an impact for some on their mh

Agreed

I am not OK with it at all. I hate it
But I accept that it is the least worse thing.

Views of families are quite split on our unit. Some of course have no friends or family. Some families are up in arms and desperate to visit. About an equal number are happy that there is no visiting as they feel it keeps their relative safe. They would complain if we were allowing visits as they don't want their family member exposed to other people's visitors.

I can definitely see why there are no visitors allowed but I seriously think professionals need to think very carefully about who they place in mental health units particularly at this time

My son is on a secure unit under a section 2. We saw him on Christmas Day. I understand completely why visitors are not allowed. My son is very poorly and where he needs to be. It's enough to know he's safe. Thank you to everyone who works in MH for everything you do.

@Tellmelies65

The unit has no activity’s or anything. They open an activity room where they offer colouring and a film about once a week. Which when you’ve got nothing else to do isn’t much.

Could you drop off some things for her to do? Puzzle books, colouring books, wireless headphones (no wires eliminates ligature risk), craft kits that don't have any sharps in (so no needles etc), books, etc. When I was in MH hospital for an extended period of time it really helped to have these things. As a staff member now it really helps my patients when they have these things. It might help a bit xx

@Tellmelies65

I can definitely see why there are no visitors allowed but I seriously think professionals need to think very carefully about who they place in mental health units particularly at this time

Is she sectioned, OP?

@HikeForward

If they're not permitted to return to the ward without a negative test, where do they go while waiting or if they become unwell?

Many wards have ‘covid areas’ now for MH patients. Staff wear full PPE in these areas and dispose of it as biohazards.

If waiting for a test they’re usually confined to their room until they get a negative.

It is so incredibly difficult to isolate someone to their bedroom when they are both able to walk around (ie don't have mobility issues) and mentally unwell. I find a lot of my patients don't understand the reason for isolating despite us trying to explain. Rarely (but sometimes) someone will deliberately try to spread the virus (when they know they have it) because they're too unwell to understand that it's dangerous or too unwell to care, sadly. We can't spare the staff to have someone with them to make sure they don't come out of their bedrooms at all times... So we're quite often attending to someone in the living room and the patient who is supposed to be isolating appears next to us. It's a tough situation.

Never mind my last message asking if she is sectioned @tellmelies65, I saw that she is detained. If she feels she shouldn't be in hospital please encourage her to ask the ward for a Mental Health Advocate (she is entitled to one if detained), and to apply for an appeal against the section.

@Torvean32

I've had many admissions to adult mental health wards varying from 2 weeks to 6 months. I think some ppl think you get your own room to put pictures up and you get daily therapy.

In fact it's very noisy and it can be scary as it's mixed sex wards. There are 6 bedded rooms. The 5 single rooms tend to be for the manic/paranoid and those coming off drugs.

There's supposed to be daily groups but they're bately done. Sometimes the only time you see a nurse is when you get your medication.

The thought of not getting out to get peace will mske it 100 times worse. Parients will not cope with this and id expextan increase in violent behaviour.

That surprises me. I have never in my career come across a MH ward with any shared bedrooms and I've worked at a LOT of trusts in the UK, and worked internationally too. Every patient I've known has had their own room. Usually it's en suite - especially if for a female patient - but sometimes it's shared bathrooms.

Not soundproofed so can still be noisy and that can still be distressing but I'm very surprised that you've come across shared wards without private bedrooms. That would not be appropriate at all in my eyes.

Hi @JoyousSealion. I will say its a hospital in Scotland . There are 4 wards with ppl aged 18-65. All mixed sexes. All have 4 x 6 bed dormitories and 5 single rooms.

Dorms are obviously same sex. It's normally 2 male dorms then 2 female as thry feel that's safer.

I’ve heard of dorms in inpatient units in England. Not in our local ones though.