Enter and view: Edgware Community Hospital, Dennis Scott Unit, Thames Ward
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Healthwatch Barnet conducted an announced Enter and View visit to the Thames Ward, part of the Dennis Scott Mental Health Unit, at Edgware Community Hospital on 24 April 2013. The visit was made as part of a planned strategy, in response to concerns received by Barnet LINk prior to the establishment of Healthwatch, to explore the treatment of mental health patients in various locations across the Borough.
Thames Ward is one of four mental health units in the Dennis Scott Unit at Edgware Community Hospital. It is a mixed acute admissions ward
with 20 beds. Patients are admitted via a doctor’s referral or a home treatment gatekeeper. Although patients generally stay for about 6 weeks, some may stay longer.
The Enter and View Authorised Representatives reported that all sleeping accommodation is in individual rooms, and the individual rooms are adequately furnished for the intended relatively short-stay patients and have nothing in them that could be used for self-harm. Even the curtains, necessary for privacy, came down if any weight or pressure had been applied to them.
As well as a mental health assessment on admission, patients are given a physical health check and regularly monitored during their stay.
Planning starts for their release destination of home, recovery house, or social housing.
As the visiting team noted that it was sometimes difficult to distinguish between staff and patients because the staff did not wear uniforms and Ward staff were not clearly identifiable to patients, visitors and other staff, there was a recommendation made in the report that staff should wear clearly visible and legible name badges.
The recommendations made in the report were positively addressed by the manager of the Ward and at the time of the response all staff had been issued, and were wearing, name badges.