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Ward 19 Priestley unit (Kirklees)
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About the service
Ward 19 is an inpatient ward on Priestley unit at Dewsbury and District Hospital for the assessment and treatment of any form of mental health condition for service users usually over the age of 65 years.
The ward is split into male and female areas with a staff group dedicated to each area.
You will be allocated a key worker (a qualified nurse) to discuss your needs with and create a plan of care with you to promote your recovery.
Your medications will be reviewed whilst you are in hospital, and we will assess your physical and mental health while you are on the ward.
We will respect your privacy and dignity and inform you of your rights – whether you are on the ward voluntarily or detained under the Mental Health or Mental Capacity Acts.
We will liaise with other services to ensure that your needs are met both whilst you are in hospital and when you go home. We work with community staff and other professionals such as physiotherapists, social workers and dieticians to provide the best quality of care suited to your needs.
We aim to provide the highest standard of inpatient assessment, treatment and care in a safe, therapeutic and least restrictive environment as possible.
Why would someone choose the service?
Recent patient experience surveys indicate that:
- 100% of people said they were treated by our service with dignity and respect
- 100% of people said they felt they were listened to and their views were taken into account during their stay on the ward
- 100% of people rated their care and treatment on the ward as ‘excellent’ or ‘good’
Our staff will help you work at your own pace and always respect your wishes.
We have separate male and female lounges, dining areas and conservatories with pleasant gardens.
Service users are encouraged to spend time in the gardens and have enjoyed growing fruits and vegetables such as strawberries, potatoes and tomatoes.
Staff you may meet
- Activity co-ordinators are responsible for implementing a range of therapeutic activities. Examples of activities provided include social, recreational, leisure, communication, sensory or educational sessions.
- Administrative staff provide essential support to doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals. This can be in a variety of different settings, with administrators working as a receptionist in a clinic or a clerk on a ward. They may also be working closely with a consultant as a medical secretary.
- Dietitians use the science of food to help people to make good choices about food and lifestyle. Nutrition is an important part of recovery and wellbeing. All service users admitted to a Trust ward have their nutritional state assessed.
- There are more than 60 different specialities that doctors work within the NHS. Each is unique but there are many characteristics which are common. Roles range from working in a hospital to being based in the community as a GP.
- Domestic staff have a vital role in helping to care for patients. They work in one of three key areas; catering, cleaning or laundry services. All of these services play an important part in aiding an individual’s recovery.
- Housekeepers help nurses run hospital wards. They are a member of a ward team and support the delivery of clinical care by ensuring the ward is a clean, safe and attractive place which is conducive to patient care.
- There are many people who work behind the scenes to keep services running and you may meet them in hospital or community settings. They include porters, cleaners, plumbers, electricians, decorators receptionists and secretaries who all work to make sure healthcare settings are kept clean, tidy and safe.
- Nurses who choose to specialise in the mental health branch of nursing work with GPs, psychiatrists, psychologists, and others, to help care for patients. Increasingly, care is given in the community, with mental health nurses visiting patients and their families at home, in residential centres, in prisons or in specialist clinics or units.
- Nursing or healthcare assistants work in hospital or community settings under the guidance of a qualified healthcare professional. They help doctors, nurses and therapists give people the care and treatment they need.
- Occupational therapy is the assessment and treatment of physical and psychiatric conditions using specific, purposeful activity to prevent disability and promote independent function in all aspects of daily life.
- The NHS employs a wide range of clinical staff, it wouldn’t be possible to list them all on this website! All our clinical staff are skilled, dedicated professionals who adhere to high standards of training and work-place practice.
- Physiotherapists help people to improve their range of movement in order to promote health and well being. This can help people to live more independently.
- Porters work within the Trust facilities team moving and delivering post, equipment and medication to locations across the organisation. They also help to move frail and often very ill patients between different departments and wards in safety and comfort.
- Receptionists are the first link for many patients and visitors. They often work on their own or with one or two other receptionists, greeting patients as they arrive and check them in. They might also collect patient notes and ensure that these vital records go to the right healthcare professional. In a clinic, they may make appointments and arrange patient transport.
- Social workers help, support and protect people who are facing difficulties in their lives. They help people to take positive steps to overcome problems and improve their lives. This could involve assessing and reviewing a service user’s situation, building relationships with service users and their families and agreeing what practical support someone needs.
- We have a range of specialist advisors working in our Trust – they give advice on a wide range of different things, depending on what service they work in. So it could be, for example, mental health, stopping smoking, healthy eating or diabetes.
Why a professional should choose the service
- We have consistently met our key performance indicators for both Delayed Transfers of Care and Average Length of Stay for 2014
- All our new admissions are seen by the ward consultant, physiotherapist and occupational therapy within 72 hours
- 100% of service users are routinely screened and risk assessed for falls, nutritional status, continence, pressure area, deep vein thrombosis, smoking cessation, physical health, activities of daily living, cognitive function and mental health symptoms within 48 hours of admission
- The 2014 results of the patient experience questionnaires show that 100% of our service users rate the care and treatment that they have received while on ward 19 as ‘excellent’
- We have recently received training in compassionate care and have made individual pledges to develop our compassionate practice further
- We are a teaching ward for nursing, medical, occupational therapy and physiotherapy students
Support offered
- Medication review
- Pharmacological treatment (using medication to treat conditions)
- Electroconvulsive therapy (a type of treatment used to treat a small number of severe mental health conditions)
- Nursing assessments
- Occupational therapy assessments
- Physiotherapy assessments
- Dietician assessments
- Group activities
- Exercise activities
- Support with self-care
- Health screening
- Symptom management
- Risk assessment
Outcomes
- Recovery from the acute phase of illness
- Risk assessment and management
- Discharge back into the community as soon as possible with the appropriate support package
- Clarification of diagnosis
Referrals accepted from:
Single Point of Access team
Referral criteria:
- Aged over 65 (or younger if cognitively impaired – when a person has trouble remembering, learning new things, concentrating, or making decisions that affect their everyday life)
- Experiencing serious mental illness or dementia
- Presents risks to self or others which cannot be managed at home or in another place of residence