Child outside psychiatric hospital

[UndertheCedartree]

I was visiting my DBF at the psychiatric hospital he is in at the moment today. We sat out the front. There was a DC there the whole 2.5 hours I was there with his parents who were visiting another patient.

I thought it was a bit strange. The garden of the male acute ward borders this area and you sporadically hear a lot of swearing at people and shouting. The patients out the front can sometimes shout inappropriate things, there can be fights or aggressiveness as obviously some are very unwell. I personally don't think it's an appropriate environment for a child.

The thing is it's not like there is no where else to go. There is a family room (but would need to be booked) and a short walk away there is a park and a square with benches and cafes/shops. The area outside the hospital has a road for cars to access the reception and the car park too and the DC kept scootering into the road. I expect he was really bored.

What do you think? I can't think of any reason they stayed there.

Mind your own business.

It's really not your business.

I don’t know, I remember my parents taking me to visit someone in a psychiatric ward. I guess because I was a child they thought sitting outside in the garden with the person we were seeing would be better for me than going inside. Seems a similar thought process went on here. I don’t think it’s a bad thing really. I mean it isn’t great but they were with their parents.

^This^

X 3

It depends who the person in the hospital is. If it's a family member they're visiting, I'm sure that's great. But if it's some distant person and their parents have dragged them along, it does seem a bit odd? Places such as that can be very distressing (I have personal experience of being a child in that situation). I wouldn't be worried about the swearing etc though??

Omg I am so shocked when people do the - mind your own business thing when we see children in difficult situations in our communities

of course an acute psychiatric environment is not suitable for a child - you are absolutely right to be concerned !!

let the ward staff know, they can intervene, which may mean letting them
know how to book family room, any other spaces they can use etc. etc.

I was that child many years ago and the person I was visiting was my mum. This happened on and off throughout my childhood. I am glad my dad took me to visit her and would hate to think others were judging my family.

Why do you care? stay in your lane.

THIS 100% and I work on a psychiatric ward

Maybe it's become normalised in that family, because that's how it's been.

Why assume people are judging ??

expressing concern that a child may be in a difficult situation is not judging - it’s being a good society member

Children aren't allowed on the ward so that isn't an option they would have to go iambulance ily room which has toys and is away from the ward. Yes, it's not the worst thing, I just felt sorry for the DC having to hear so much abuse. Was worried they were going to get run over too because when there was an ambulance there a car driver might not see them shoot out into the road.

OP: I saw a child in a situation that felt inappropriately today and I was concerned about them.
should I do anything next time or was it actually ok?

shitty replies: mind your own business you judgemental busy body.

jeez people 🙄

OP they may be all kinds of reasons why the child was there but it does sound like there better locations to actually spend time together there

Yes, I know it's not my business but it did feel quite uncomfortable. My DBF was trying to stop people shouting aggressively etc in front of the DC and we stopped him shooting into the road a few times.

In my place of work any child visiting would have to have a child visiting form completed by a social worker and they could only go to the designated family room which would only be used by their family. We couldn't control what they did outside the planned visit so if their family loitered by the perimeter fence then we wouldn't necessarily move them on. It's up to parents or carers to decide if an environment is likely to cause them distress.

I assume it was a family member but not a parent. But I just don't know why they didn't use the family room which is safe, quiet and has toys or the park so he could scoot to his heart's content. Personally, I wouldn't be worrying about people swearing but I'm talking about aggressive swearing at other people. Inappropriate comments being shouted out and physically aggressive behaviour. That kind of thing can be distressing to others let alone a 3 yo.

and if you are a health care professional you will be aware that just because a child
is not in your immediate vicinity you are still expected to think of whole family /
child first in health care -
which would mean that a child running into the road and being stopped doing so by other patients and their visitors, being exposed to acute psychiatric illness for several hours at a time, should be looked at and the family supported to visit their loved one, without causing risk or distress to children

Maybe the family room was already booked? Perhaps they felt an outside visit would be better for their child? Maybe the person they were visiting didn’t want to leave the grounds to go to the park? I don’t think anyone can question it because there could be so many things going on.

Yes, this is why I asked. Perhaps they weren't aware of the family room or park? I was genuinely worried about the little child.

Having said all that it’s obviously not good for the child to be in the road. I probably would have had a quiet word with a staff member so they could have offered a safer space.

when you are working with psychiatric patients, all sorts of things that look odd may not be. Maybe the person they were visiting didn't want to leave the hospital grounds. Maybe they didn't know about the family room or didn't know what the place would be like. There could be all sorts of valid reasons why they were there.

The child was safe and with family. overhearing bad language is not a danger, and you should keep your nose out.

We should question things we see -
it’s called safeguarding !!
not judging !

That was my childhood, visiting mum in a psychiatric hospital.

I haven't for one moment judged the family for taking the DC to visit. I was just concerned about where the visit took place. It was unsafe.

I've been in hospital myself and when my DC came we went to the family room or the park/square. I wouldn't have wanted them to be frightened. It was hard enough on them being seperate from their mum without that on top. I'm sure this family didn't want this either and as someone suggested might not know where else they can go.