Published on: 3rd June 2015
Healthcare professionals from Finland have visited Lincolnshire to find out more about a new approach to keeping mental health wards safe.
A delegation from Kellokoski Forensic Hospital, Finland, flew into Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust this week to see how Charlesworth Ward, the female acute mental health ward in Lincoln, has implemented the safewards approach to reduce conflict and containment.
The safewards model, developed by Professor Len Bowers, is practiced by staff in Lincoln and offers a number of different ways to help the ward understand and reduce behaviours such as aggression.
Trust director of operations, Ian Jerams, said:
Practicing the safewards technique in our daily activities on the ward has equipped our staff with a range of feasible interventions which seem to be making a positive difference.
These can be as simple as setting clear mutual expectations, using soft words, mitigating bad news, mutual help and increasing mutual understanding, using calm down methods and providing reassurance – approaches our teams use in their day to day activities.
Alongside increasing the use of such techniques the team are actively working to reduce restrictive practices such as physical restraint and rapid tranquilisation.
The project is currently being formally evaluated, however the early signs are very encouraging.
Ward manager, Tracy Colpitts, said:
The techniques are making a real difference to the quality of the healing environment that we provide to the people in our care.
One Finnish healthcare worker Piia Immonen said she hoped Trust staff could one day make a return trip to see them.
We’ve had a really nice time, everyone was helpful and we were very happy to be here.
We would like to thank LPFT staff for their hospitality and invite them to visit Finland in the future.
We will be looking to implement the safewards approach in our hospital on our return.
The Trust was eager to share their examples of implementing this new approach and enjoyed welcoming the team from Finland not only to Peter Hodgkinson Centre, but also sharing some of the fantastic historic sights of Lincoln.
