"Night time seclusion, no thanks"

I had the pleasure of attending the trust board meeting at Wathwood Hospital in February.

There were many aspects which were impressive, not least the high regard in which Patient Opinion is held.

As one might expect with a trust with the size and scope as Notts NHS there was a prominent air of competence, care and excellence.

As a patient at Wathwood Hospital I was particularly interested to hear of the practice of night time Seclusion which is in operation at Rampton Hospital; the savings that it has brought, the views of patients and the measures that are to be taken with regard to staffing to ensure the safety of familiarity is maintained in assessing patients who may be at risk.

It was noted, too, by the board that Wathwood Hospital has been ranked Top in national assessments of RSUs in 2012 & 2013 and hoped that Wathwood would do similarly this year.

I have raised the issue of night time seclusion at our Patients' Forum this week. We understand that Arnold Lodge may be following Rampton with its introduction. I believe it was the unanimous view of those present that night time seclusion would not be welcome at Wathwood, a view echoed by the staff present and a handful of additional staff that I have canvassed.

Wathwood's status and good reputation derives, first and last, from the good and genuine therapeutic and everyday human relationships that are nurtured and celebrated by the Wathwood Community.

Incidents are low, the skills of de-escalation on the part of the staff are high, as is the reputation of the unit and the satisfaction of service users and their families and carers. Let's keep it that way.

So on behalf of my fellow patients current and future, and supported by ground level staff I would like to put up front to the Trust board the opinion that night time seclusion may very have its rightful place, but that place is not Wathwood Hospital.