"Soap"

I have left a wider review previously. There is one issue that I forgot to mention but it did concern me at the time of my stay, which was in January to early March last year. If possible please add this to my other review. ..... I was surprised that there was no soap dispenser in the patient rooms. There were two in the entire ward - in the communal kitchen and in the Arts Therapy room. I was told that soap in dispensing bottles contained substances that are harmful when ingested. Not a good thing with mental health patients. We were given sachets to shower with, so I imagine the only option for most people was to wash their hands with these after using the lavatory. I personally do not believe anybody did do this and therefore the risk of infection was increased. In a hospital! I am able bodied. I would wash my hands regularly in the kitchen. Always before a meal and at other times also. I am in my early 40's, most of the time (not always) I was the youngest patient on the ward, which was ostensibly geared towards older patients. So we had a situation where physically weaker patients are potentially exposed to germs and infection which may be passed through human to human contact. Now if the sachets provided for showers are not considered to contain harmful ingredients (and why would they be handed out freely to all if they were?) then it implies that there are soaps available that can be safely employed in a dispenser. My general point is this: what on earth is the point in attempting to minister to people's mental health needs only to expose them to physical risks? In a hospital, any hospital, cleanliness should be taken as a minimum expectation. You cannot make patients employ proper hygiene methods, of course, but it is surely incumbent on a hospital to provide the facilities so as to encourage every patient to do so. Bringing one's own soap is not an option. Mine was confiscated on arrival.