Celebrating 10 Years of Progress & Quality
2010 marks the 10th Anniversary of St Andrew’s Healthcare Essex caring for service users with mental health problems.
Sue Green has been with the charity in Essex almost since the start, and in recent years has taken on the key position of Registered Manager and Hospital Director. Sue talks us through some of the key developments over the last 10 years.
“Our Essex service began life as a 53 bedded male unit with three wards, however, it soon became apparent that there was a need to offer women the same service within the area and as such we developed a 12 bedded women’s facility.
“Therapeutic sessions fundamental to our care pathways”
Over the last ten years the occupational therapy and psychology service has been fundamental to the care pathways here, and a number of therapy and activity rooms have been created to allow therapeutic intervention space away from the ward environment.
Staff have been trained to deliver complimentary therapy which saw the introduction of our art and drama team, yoga and relaxation sessions, a comprehensive range of sports and exercise plans, plus an emphasis on health promotion which have all contributed to us achieving and exceeding where possible 25 hours of therapeutic activity, as set out in best practice guidelines and secure standards.
In 2007, our bespoke women’s unit was created, with DBT and psychological interventions at the core of treatment packages. This along with the intensive rehabilitation and recovery programme has already demonstrated success in enabling women to move back into the community with the skills and confidence they need.
“Service users successfully discharged to their homes”
Simone is our specialist female intensive rehabilitation and recovery unit and is one of our most recent successes.
Since opening 18 months ago this six bed unit has seen two service users discharged to less secure environments and three service users successfully discharged to their homes.
One of our service users progressing through the care pathway here in Essex told me recently how pleased she was with her progress.
“I can see that I’m getting better as I have moved from one unit to the next. It’s good to be given a chance to show responsibility. When I leave here I want to work as a volunteer in a charity shop”.
It makes me feel very proud when a service user acknowledges the progress they have made and shows clear and vast improvements with their behaviour.
Our services for men have continued to develop and now offer care pathways for those with personality disorder and those with mental illness. This service has benefited from new psychological techniques such as ‘Stop and Think’, which helps our service users to use the skills they have learnt to better manage their behaviour, which in turn helps them track the improvements they have made as a result.
“I admire our charitable status which enables us to continually reinvest”
Having worked in secure care for well over 23 years I can honestly say working within St Andrews makes me very proud. I admire our charitable status which enables us to continually reinvest in our services in a way that other providers may be limited to do so. Our charity is service user focussed and puts a large emphasis on outcomes and effectiveness of treatment for vulnerable groups of people.
St Andrews Essex has an exciting future ahead and our tradition of innovation is set to continue with new service improvements, including a new length of stay initiative in line with CQUIN, which will enable us to continue to lead the way in mental healthcare provision.”