Person Centred Visiting – Mental Health Information

On admission to the ward, you will be asked about your preferences for visitors. Your family and/or significant others can also contribute to this. We will record this on a visiting form which will be kept with your care plan.

The importance of maintaining family connections with your children, when you are in hospital, is important. We will discuss this with you and your family at admission and during your hospital stay. Where possible, we will facilitate visits in a designated family area.

We have no set visiting times. This means you can be here to support your family member or friend at any time during the day. Please discuss with your family member or friend what they would like in terms of visits and what times would work best for you both, then talk to ward staff about your plans.

There may be times when visiting takes place in a communal area or visiting room, the nursing staff will advise where visiting is offered in each ward.

Should you need to access an area out with the dedicated visiting area, please speak to the nurse in charge.

In those Mental Health wards where visiting can only take place in dining rooms, family support during mealtimes will be discussed and agreed as part of individual visiting and care plans, in conjunction with the individual, the people who matter to them and staff.

To ensure a safe environment and that of yourself and others, please discuss with the nurse in charge what is safe and not safe to take into the ward. Examples of items not deemed safe are glass bottles, knifes, medications and plastic bags. Any electrical equipment should be handed into staff to be safety checked.

We recognise the benefits of having the opportunity to spend time with those visiting away from the immediate ward. However, there may be times when this is not possible. Please discuss this with the nurse in charge, and always let the nurse in charge know when you are going out of the ward with your family member.

It is important for staff to know when patients have returned to the ward. This ensures that staff maintain overall safety and activity on the ward, and allows staff to plan therapeutic engagement. In addition, this provides family members with the opportunity to feedback to staff on how the visit has gone and ask any questions regarding this.