Christmas at the Unity Centre

Within the Unity Centre, at Fieldhead Hospital in Wakefield, we care for some of the most unwell adults across our area in our adult mental health in-patient wards.

Our new £17m Unity Centre features state-of-the-art therapeutic areas, en-suite bathrooms and vastly improved relaxation areas to help people in our care on their journey to recovery.

Although sadly some of those we care for aren’t well enough to go home for Christmas, our staff have been working hard to get everyone in the Christmas spirit.

Staff, those we care for and carers at the unity centre enjoyed a fabulous Christmas party last week. There was food, games, dancing and some excellent karaoke performances.

Those in our care also helped raise money for our Trust charity EyUp! by baking cakes for the German market held at Fieldhead yesterday.

Tim Mellard, matron (acute inpatient services), said: “There’s a real festive atmosphere on our wards at the moment. We’ve been focussing on patient-led Christmas activities as part of work to reduce restrictive practices.”

Nostell ward, based in the Unity Centre, is part of the Reducing Restrictive Practice Interventions (RRPI) Collaborative, which was set up in November 2018 and includes 38 wards from across the country. The aim of the RRPI is to reduce restrictive practice (measured by number of restraints, seclusions and rapid tranquilisations) by 33% in the wards taking part by April 2020.

Nostell ward recently shared how they’d successfully reduced restrictive practice by over 50% at the national Royal College of Psychiatrists’ annual AIMS (accreditation for inpatient mental health services) conference in London.

After introducing a number of changes including 24/7 access to a communal lounge, unrestricted access to a relaxation room, visits from a therapy dog, increased activities and protected meeting time with nurses, the ward saw a 54% reduction in restrictive incidents.