On arrival we will have a chat with you, and your family or carer, to find out more about your current situation, your worries, your safety needs, your strengths and your interests in order to develop a ‘Care and Safety Plan’ together. This will set your immediate goals and agree the steps we can all take together to achieve them and work towards your recovery.
We understand it can be really hard to talk about personal experiences and to find the words to explain what’s been going on. We will do our very best to make this process as comfortable as possible for you and you’ll have the opportunity to talk further over the coming days.
As part of your Care and Safety Plan we will agree how best to support your needs, including your 'observation level' while you settle in. This is where nursing staff check in regularly with you to ask how you are, make sure you’re safe and see whether you need anything. Occasionally a member of staff may remain with you to help you manage your safety. If needed this will be discussed and agreed with you in more detail.
We provide a range of treatment options, which are delivered by a team of psychiatrists, psychologists, nurses, support workers (who are extremely skilled and spend the most time with you), occupational therapists, teachers and other therapists. Examples might include dialectical behaviour therapy or cognitive behaviour therapy. Following a period of assessment, any treatment options will be discussed with you and incorporated into your Care and Safety Plan.
The use of medication may be of help but will only be given after discussion with you and your family.
We know that physical health and mental wellbeing are linked; a comprehensive physical health assessment will be carried out on your arrival and will be monitored throughout your stay.
If you have agreed to be admitted to hospital 'informally' you should have been given relevant information before your arrival to help you make an informed decision about coming into hospital and we will discuss this further with you. If you have been 'detained' under the Mental Health Act (sometimes referred to as being 'sectioned') and are being admitted without your agreement we will explain your legal rights to you. You can find out more about what this means here.
Welcome to the unit
We will show you round the ward and introduce you to staff and young people. Everyone understands how scary coming into hospital is so will try to help put you at ease. We’re all really friendly! Watch our video to get an idea of what the ward looks like and to hear young people talking about their experience at Chalkhill.
Over your first few days you’ll meet different members of the Chalkhill Team. In addition to the professionals mentioned above, we are supported by our wonderful catering, cleaning and administrative staff. There's a lot of new faces to get used to and we don’t expect you to remember who we all are straight away.
You’ll have a small team of professionals allocated to you as your ‘care team’ who will meet with you regularly. Both yourself, and your family or carers, will be asked for your feedback on a regular basis so that we can all review how things are going together; what’s helping and what’s not. We aim to keep YOU at the centre of your care and involved in as much of the decision making as you feel up to. Sometimes your family or carer will be invited to do some family work as part of your treatment.
Visiting home during your stay is a valuable part of your treatment, as it gives you a chance to put what you’ve learnt into practice and we will be able to see how well you are managing.
The length of time you stay with us varies widely from person to person. Your care plan will be tailored to suit your individual needs. We will work closely together with you and your family or carers so that you can return home as soon as possible.
We aim to address any immediate difficulties whilst you are in hospital. Your recovery journey will continue at home and we will provide you with, or signpost you to, community support to address longer term needs.
Routine
The ward is split over two floors. During the day you’ll spend time in the communal areas on the ground floor. We expect everyone to go to our onsite school from 10am - 3pm (with regular breaks) on weekdays, and to attend our daily therapeutic activities afterwards. These are a really important part of your treatment plan and will help your recovery. We ask you to keep an open mind, get involved and try things out - you might even discover some new interests.
The ward can get busy at times. If at any point during your stay you would feel more comfortable being able to use a gender specific lounge area, or just need some quiet space to reflect alone, let us know and we will arrange this for you.
The bedrooms are on the first floor; you'll have your own room with an en-suite shower and toilet. Between 9:45pm - 10pm everyone retires upstairs. The bedroom corridors are allocated by gender. Let us know which gender you identify with so we can get this right for you.
We understand that night time can be particularly difficult for some people. Our nursing staff are here to support you around the clock.
