"Wathwood Opening of The Lodges"

It was an absolute privilege to have been invited and witness the opening of The Lodges at Wathwood Hospital.

It is thanks to a hard working staff, exceptionally talented patients and the passion of the service management that 'The Lodges' has been developed in such a wonderful way.

The ceremony itself commenced with inspiring words from Atol one of Wathwood's patients. Atol was so proud of all he has accomplished whilst he has been a patient at Wathwood. Atol was clearly very happy with the care he has received as a patient and now promotes the positivity that Wathwood instils in its patients. Atol is hoping to be considered for one of the beds in the unit (which opens to patients in the next couple of weeks) which will hopefully be part of his 'step down' and move towards him being discharged from hospital.

This was a remarkable afternoon and a time to truly celebrate; for me this far outweighs The Jubilee and The Olympics. We get to witness so very little positivity in life these days, the opening of The Lodges at Wathwood is truly monumental.

In my many years of working in the NHS's mental health services I have witnessed many divides between patients and staff which have demonstrated professional working relationships which have been devoid of human warmth; this can't be said of what I have witnessed so far at Wathwood. I am proud to say that I have thus far only witnessed warmth and empathy from the staff at Wathwood, which I am sure is why the environment is so conducive to excellent patient care.

I would suggest that the most important things about patient care are human warmth, taking the time to care, and the channelling of hope. This works from the top down, we are fortunate that we have a Chief Exec and Chair that take the time to talk and more importantly listen to patients who are under the care of Nottinghamshire Healthcare.

Wishing all the very best to the patients and staff at Wathwood and good luck with moving into The Lodges.