Welcome to Laurel WardInformation for patients and families

RDaSH leading the way with care

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Welcome to Laurel Ward

Laurel Ward is a 13 bedded acute mental health care environment providing hospital treatment to older people who need a short stay to recover from a significant period of illness.

Laurel Ward provides care to people who have a range of mental health needs including depression, dementia or psychosis and will always have people at different stages of recovery.

Some of our patients will have been recently admitted to the ward and may be at a particularly difficult time in their lives. Others will be preparing for discharge and feeling more settled.

This means that the ward can sometimes seem very busy and you may feel confused or worried about your time here. This leaflet tells you a bit about our routines and what we can do to help.

Care and treatment

During a stay on Laurel Ward all our patients will have a named consultant psychiatrist and a named nurse. If you do not know who this is please ask a member of staff. The named nurse and the consultant psychiatrist have a responsibility to plan your care and treatment on the ward with you and to make sure this plan is regularly reviewed to help you to recover.

There will be a formal review of care at our ward round, and patients, along with any carers who have consent from

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the patient, will be invited to attend these discussions and to contribute to the plan of care.

You will be offered a copy of the care plan and you can expect to have the information in the care plan discussed and agreed with you.

If medication is to be prescribed you will be given information about the medication offered, the benefits of the treatment and information on side effects or risks.

If you want more information about your care and treatment you can ask a member of the ward team to provide this.

Privacy and dignity

As Laurel Ward provides care to male and female patients the team work to ensure that all our patients are supported in maintaining safety, privacy and dignity. We have taken a number of steps to support this, including:

• Providing everyone with a single bedroom with en-suite shower room

• Providing quiet lounge rooms

• Providing a female only TV lounge

• Providing a tranquil garden.

Following admission all our patients will be asked to think about how these, or other measures might support them in maintaining safety, privacy and dignity, and a care plan will be developed to support

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this. A care plan might include aspects such as:

• A key to allow the bedroom door to be locked by the patient

• A decision about which bedroom is allocated

• A discussion about how therapeutic activity can be used to promote wellbeing

• Orientation to the ward and a plan for the use of our female only or quiet lounges

• An assessment of any specific risks or concerns and a plan to manage these.

Visiting

The Laurel Ward team values the contribution of family and friends in helping our patients to maintain close contact and support recovery. A separate leaflet with details of visiting times and routines is available. If you have not been given a copy please ask a member of the ward staff.

Therapy and activity

As well as care provided by nurses and doctors, Laurel Ward also has dedicated sessions provided by occupational therapy and physiotherapy staff. Together, the nursing and therapy staff provide individual and group activities which are designed to promote recovery and wellbeing. Each week a programme of planned group activities will be displayed on

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the ward, and patients will be encouraged to participate in groups to improve health, develop confidence, extend coping and life skills, or the activities can simply be enjoyed.

Tell us about your stay

If at any time during the stay you have concerns or worries about care on Laurel Ward please talk to a member of the team.

We will also write to people when they have left hospital with a feedback form and ask you to tell us about key aspects of the care and treatment you received. Your feedback is used to plan for changes and improvements.

Environment

RDaSH is a smoke free trust and no smoking is allowed on the grounds at all. All patients who smoke will be offered nicotine replacement therapy to help manage their nicotine levels.

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This information is correct at the time of publishing Last Reviewed: November 2012

DP7125/11.12

We are a smokefree organisation.Please provide a smoke free environment for your healthcare provider

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