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"not enough staff. unsafe numbers of staff."

About: Rampton Hospital / Personality Disorder Pathway

(as the patient),

One day at end of first week of December on Eden ward the nurse in charge had no choice but to lock off the day room. As the number of staff dropped to 3, that is the nurse in charge and 2 HCAs. This is getting to be a common theme.

As a patient on Eden ward, we are told we should run on 7 staff and most days we run on 5 staff which can be manageable from what I can see. But they struggle when it comes down to fresh air which we have a right to daily, but quite often the staff levels drop to 4 when this happens it has an impact on the running of the ward. First, we lose fresh air then we lose the day room. When the staff have breaks the ward drops to 3 this sometimes causes conflict between staff and patients. Sometimes we are made to wait for prn and medication because they arnt any body to give them to us. This is not me having a pop at ward staff as I know this is higher management and they are leaving the ward on unsafe numbers of staff. What I personally find difficult and other patients have said the same is when they are struggling sometimes after a psychology session, we are told that there is not enough staff to do a one to one.

I don’t blame ward staff I blame higher management and I don’t like it when they say we should deal with it ourselves as we are a step down ward. The thing is some have just started difficult work and yes, I struggle so please act and give us help

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Responses

Response from Nigel Groves, Involvement and Experience Lead, Forensic Services, Involvement Team, Nottinghamshire Health care Trust 2 years ago
Nigel Groves
Involvement and Experience Lead, Forensic Services, Involvement Team,
Nottinghamshire Health care Trust

help get the feedback we need

Submitted on 14/12/2021 at 17:42
Published on Care Opinion at 17:42


Hi There,

I just wanted to say thank you for taking the time to send your feedback to us on Care Opinion. I know it is not always easy to speak up but this is what this way of sending feedback is for. I am confident you will get someone responding to all the issues raised and of course you can always respond to them if you wanted to

Thanks again for your time and your posting

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Response from Kerry Burton, Head of Business & Operations, Rampton Hospital, Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust 2 years ago
Kerry Burton
Head of Business & Operations, Rampton Hospital,
Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust
Submitted on 15/12/2021 at 15:38
Published on Care Opinion at 15:38


Good afternoon

Thank you for taking the time to provide feedback, it is appreciated. Since reading this post I have spoken with Modern Matron of your Care Stream and we have been able to identify the date the day room was not available for patients. Having looked at the details surrounding this incident, it is unfortunate to realise that the staffing issues faced by the ward were not highlighted via the current protocol. Just to provide some context, the hospital holds a daily staffing meeting whereby Matrons from all Care Streams attend, along with other area managers to look at staffing resource for the day and distribute this fairly, in line with clinical need across the hospital. If wards have significant hotpots, or concerns around being able to facilitate fresh air for example, Ward Managers should flag this with the Care Stream Matrons so that this can be discussed and actions agreed in the daily staffing meeting to support the wards. Furthermore, if restrictive interventions are being considered, such as closing ward areas, this should be escalated to either the Matron or the Site Manager so contingencies can be discussed. On this date, these issues were not highlighted. There were also decisions made at ward level which took staff away from the clinical area. To support the individual in charge of the ward that the day, the Ward Manager is offering bespoke supervision to look at shift management and clear expectations around the reporting process in relation to staffing. It is anticipated that this approach can offer support and guidance to reduce the likelihood of this event happening again.

I am also aware that the Deputy Matron for the ward has spent time supporting activities and being visible should patients or staff wish to discuss any concerns. This support will continue and if you feel able, I would encourage you to speak with him when he is next on the ward. Alternatively, I am very happy to come and speak with you so that we can discuss any further concerns in person.

I hope this response has been helpful and thank you again for taking the time to speak up.

Kind regards

Kerry Burton

Head of Business & Operations

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