6th week: assessment ward

assalamualaikum

towards the end of my placement here, I was finally given the chance to experience how mental health ward works in NHS, well at least in Chase Farm Hospital. for 2 days I was arranged to work with assessment ward. the mental health ward here is divided into three; namely assessment ward, treatment ward, and others (elderly, learning disability ward, forensic ward ). Last week I've spent some time with EAC.

Well, as said in previous post, EAC is the first contact for patient who came to inquire further help for their mental problem in hospital. To determine whether the person need admission to the ward or back to community or other service line, members from home treatment team will do join assessment. therefore, HTT is deemed as gatekeeper for ward admission.

ok, it's getting a bit confusing right? just read carefully as it is actually an organized pathway.

So, let say if the patient is really unwell, and HTT can't treat them in community, the person is likely to be admitted for further assessment. Every person who need to be admitted to mental health ward will end up in Assessment ward. Here, they will be assess for at least 2 weeks to determine if they'll require further treatment.

If yes, then they will be sent to the next ward which is treatment ward, as the name imply, this ward is for treating the patient.

If NO, they will be sent back to community setting, with follow up from HTT members for 7 weeks.

Now, lets look further on how assessment ward function. It is a mixed ward (male and female patient within the same ward). However, the unwell client will have their own room and rooms are congregated according to gender. so the term mixed only apply for other places except their room. client are free to move around the ward, even allowed to go outside to shop or to smoke. This privilege is only applicable to informal client (who are not under section).

activities :
- handover between nursing staff
- medication round
- white board meeting (multidisciplinary)
- protected time
   (nurses spend time with client, no phone calls are to be entertained)
- formulation meeting
  (between client, family, and all related health personel (nurses, psychiatrist, care coordinator, social worker etc.) where care plan is to be determined. done within 3 days of admission and each time care plan need to be alter)
- therapy session
(e.g. psychology, occupational therapy, etc)
- community meeting
(client with representative of patient welfare discuss about any needs they require from the wards. )

the unwell client here can be really unwell sometimes. Most of the time watching their behavior and having conversation with them can make you smile to your self. well, I nearly broke into tears, trying to stop myself from laughing at their hilarious behavior. especially for manic client. all sorts of make-up, and colours can be seen on them. the first day I went there, the staff was showing me around the ward and introducing me to the client. then, this one client start to ask my name and offer to shake hand. she shook and kiss my hand. I just smile. she's actually exiting from toilet. later I ran to the nearest sink and quickly perform the 7 step handwashing followed by applying alcohol hand rub.  eeeuuww..


Next week is my last week here. How fast time flew......