Published: Thursday, 24th July, 2008 12:00
Patients' needs come first - Trust boss
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BERKSHIRE Healthcare Trust is aiming to improve its personal touch despite already scoring well in a Healthcare Commission survey.
The commission rated the mental health trust - which runs Reading’s Prospect Park Hospital - as good, scoring three out of four overall, but in categories relating to “individualised” care, scores were down, with the trust marked two out of four overall in the individualised whole person care category, and one in some sub-categories.
Trust chief executive Philippa Slinger said: “We have to look at the personal agenda and how we can build a care plan around the needs of the patient when they are admitted.
“That can be quite a hard job because some of the people we see are very sick and we don’t get to that point until a week and a half into their admission. We need real time feedback because that review was some months back.
“We have trialled a system in Bluebell Ward where the patient is given an electronic pad and they press a button to say what they think of the service. This tells us what it was like this week, not what it was like six months ago, and we are hoping to roll this out to other wards. But overall we are pleased.”
Mental health and social care minister Ivan Lewis visited Prospect Park Hospital yesterday (Wednesday) to look at the Campion Unit which cares for people with learning difficulties as well as mental health problems.
He said: “The stigma is still very strong in mental health. We all have strong feelings about certain physical conditions like cancer, but perhaps the reaction to this kind situation is that it doesn’t attract the same sympathy. But we should be optimistic. I remember the long stay hospitals which would keep people away for 30 years, but now the vast majority of people if seen at home.
“Mental health is not the easiest place to work, it’s a very high pressure, very complex environment, but some people are attracted to a challenge.”
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