Enter & View: Luther King Ward
As part of our Enter and View programme, Healthwatch Lambeth visited the Luther King Ward, one of the wards in Lambeth Hospital where male service users living in the London Borough of Lambeth receive care for their acute mental illness.
During the visit, our Authorised Enter and View Representatives gathered the views of male inpatients on the quality of mental health care they received. We also engaged with carers and staff and observed the overall ward conditions.
Key Findings
Environment
- The ward was clean but there were temperature variations. The facilities included a chillout room with bean bags and comfortable chairs, a communal lounge with a television and a room with books and DVDs.
Service User Feedback
- Service users were unhappy with the poor level of communication with staff, and regarded staff as being unapproachable and not providing enough information on the ward.
- We heard that most service users had not received an induction on admission and were unclear about the ward routine and the activities on offer. Medication and care plans were not typically discussed.
- Food was an issue on the ward as service users told us that snacks and drinks were unavailable outside mealtimes.
- Some service users told us they felt unsafe, mentioning intimidation from other service users.
- The carer we spoke to found it difficult to communicate and have a relationship with staff on the ward. She was not sure about the medication her son was taking and did not understand “how the system worked.”
- Staff members we spoke to shared their work responsibilities on the ward. They had received adequate training and felt supported by their managers.
- Staff told us that limited resources (especially staff shortages) were a challenge. They felt that agency workers were not always able to fulfil their roles or provide specialist care, due to the temporary nature of their duty.
- Staff told us that the ward worked closely with drug and alcohol services to support service users on the ward and after discharge. They also mentioned the involvement of organisations such as the Tree of Life, a befriending service, and Black People Matter, which informed service users about their statutory rights and helped them with advocacy.
The Luther Kind Ward responded to the key areas for improvement we recommended and the Director of Service Operation at South London and Maudsley NHS Trust appreciated our visit as a way of “enhancing the service.”
Our full report, recommendations, and response from the provider are available to download below.
