There are 5 wards in the men’s low secure service on the St Bernard’s Hospital site in Ealing.
These treat and support service users as they prepare to transition safely from a secure setting into the community at a pace that is right for each person.
These are:
Derby Ward is a low secure admission and assessment ward.
Service users are usually admitted from:
- HM Prison Service
- Forensic community teams. They may have been recalled to a secure setting after a period in the community
- Psychiatric intensive care units (PICUs).
Treatment focuses on the acute phase of the illness and risk management.
After 3 months on the ward, a care programme approach (CPA) is undertaken. The service user and the team will develop a plan to decide which type of rehabilitation ward would best suit their needs.
If the patient has made a good recovery, it could also mean they could be discharged or go back to the hospital or prison from which they came.
We would expect service users to remain on Derby Ward for about 6 months.
Solaris Ward is a low secure assertive rehabilitation ward and service. Service users are generally referred from admissions wards.
The focus is on treatment, rehabilitation and preparation for the community or the next stage of the pathway of care.
Work includes:
- Management of symptoms
- Intensive occupational, social and nursing interventions
- Risk reduction through treatment of mental disorder and offence specific work
- Addressing alcohol and substance misuse problems
- Engaging with community resources and community teams.
Service users are expected to be on Solaris Ward for less than 18 months and some will need a much shorter stay.
Barron Ward is a low secure, complex rehabilitation ward with a strong emphasis on discharging patients to community, step-down or specialist rehabilitation settings when no further specialist interventions are needed.
Length of stay is usually about 3 years on this ward, as service users need a slightly slower pace of discharge.
The team works intensively with service users to plan their risk reduction and treatment and ensure they have a clear, agreed discharge plan.
Service users are supported to engage with community resources and community teams to facilitate good discharge.
Tennyson Ward and Butler House are step-down and pre-discharge wards.
The wards aim to work with service users for 6 to 12 months. During this time, their allocated care co-ordinators attend weekly ward rounds, engaging with service users, and working with care managers to source suitable supported accommodation in the community.
Depending on where service users come from, their care co-ordinators are allocated from forensic community service teams including:
- The forensic outreach service (FOS)
- The specialist community forensic team (SCFT)
- FOCuS, a community rehabilitation service.
The teams focus on supporting service users to engage with community living, vocational skills development, employment and education, and engagement with community teams.