Inpatient Confidence in Humber Mental Health

Date 28th September 2009

 

 

 

 

 

Patients show confidence in Humber Mental Health services.

 

A survey of people who have used acute mental health inpatient services in the past year shows that Humber Mental Health Teaching NHS Trust scores in the top 20% of trusts in half of the areas covered. The Trust provides mental health, learning disability and addictions services to people in Hull and the East Riding of Yorkshire.

 

107 people responded to the survey, which asked questions about their experiences as inpatients. The questions were in 12 areas and Humber Mental Health scored in the top 20% in six of these areas; it scored in the middle range in the remaining six areas.

The questions covered topics such as care and treatment, rights, medication and talking therapies. The highest scores were for privacy and dignity (not having to share a room or sleeping area with someone of the opposite sex), physical health checks and being treated with respect and dignity by a psychiatrist.

Angie Mason, deputy chief executive and head of nursing and service delivery at Humber Mental Health, said she was pleased with the results of the survey but that there was no room for complacency. ‘We are always looking for ways to improve the experience of our patients,’ she said. ‘Although we have done very well in some areas, there are others where we need to think about what we can do better. One of these is the provision of activities for patients on the wards and we’ve already started looking at this.

 

‘But it’s encouraging to see that we compare very favourably with other trusts providing similar services and we’re particularly delighted that our efforts to give our patients an environment where their privacy and dignity are respected have been successful.’