Southern Health NHS Foundation is celebrating the official opening of the new eating disorder day programme for young people in Hampshire as well as mark the occasion of the completion of the newly refurbished general adolescent unit inpatient ward. The ribbon was cut by a young person, currently attending the day programme, to officially mark the occasion and celebrate with families and staff delivering the service.
Karen Dixon, Associate Director of Mental Health for CAMHS, Southern Health, “We are delighted to officially open the new facilities and services we are now offering young people and their families. It’s been a huge undertaking developing the new day service and encouraging young people to have treatment where they go home at night, moving away from inpatient care where we can and supporting as many young people in the community as best we can.”
The Trust has also refurbished a 10 bedded inpatient ward which will support young people who need a higher level of care including under the Mental Health Act, by adding new ensuite facilities for all 10 beds and enabling each room to have independent temperature settings, one of the first services to enable this. The ward has been designed to specifically consider the sensory needs of young people, paying particular attention to making it as sensory friendly as possible in terms of colour and layout to accommodate those with neurodiversity. A family flat is also available on site for to families who live further away, enabling them to engage with therapy as much as possible and be part of the recovery for the young person.
Those attending the opening were able to tour both the inpatient unit and the day service and meet the staff who were able to discuss and demonstrate the variety of types of therapy, support and education available to those on the day programme and staying on the inpatient ward. There is also a team working to ensure that when a young person is ready to be discharged that they have continued support in the community.
Sarah Cole, Eating Disorder Day Programme Clinical Lead said: "We are so pleased to be able to offer this level of support to young people with an eating disorder. We have a wide range of specialist support available to the young people and their families ranging from dieticians, nurses, therapists, psychologists, teachers (to enable the young people to continue with their studies during the programme) family therapists, occupational therapists and creative therapy sessions giving them a way to express themselves through drama, story-making, music and art.”
“At the end of each day the young person will be able to go home and spend time with their families. The programme is there not only to support the young person, but also give their family and carers coping skills as part of their ongoing support with their recovery recognising the importance of their role in continued recovery.”
Sandy, (whose name has been changed to protect their identity) who cut the ribbon and attends the day service, said ‘’I found coming to the day service challenging initially and it has been a hard journey. I have been greatly supported by the friendly staff. The day service has really helped me to think in a different way about anorexia and help me challenge thoughts that feel wrong. I feel more positive about my future recovery.’’
Sandy’s mum told us “The Day Service including multi-therapy sessions has really helped me and my husband to get an insight on the how the eating disorder has affected our family dynamic. It has also allowed us to relate to and understand how situations are for the other families. It looks like our daughter is recovering very fast from anorexia nervosa and we cannot imagine what would have happened if our daughter had not been referred to the Day Service in Winchester by our local CAMHS. We think that it is very important for the young children to receive treatment from eating disorder early on, as it will give the possibility to recover faster rather than having the illness for years. Thank you very much, Winchester Day Service for helping our child to get back to the normal life.”
Louise Doughty, Programme Director of Hampshire, Sussex, Kent Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) Provider Collaborative who commission the service said “We are delighted to see the excellent work that had been done to refurbish the ward and are looking forward to the opening of this service ensuring we are able to offer a local service to our young people and their families once again.”
“There has been an increase in the need for treatment of eating disorders in young people. The day service will serve to meet this for local young people and families. It has been designed by listening to what young people and families want. The service will offer evidenced care in the least restrictive way, whilst optimising a young person's independence. This approach has been found to have the best prognosis for young people with eating disorders. We are excited about having another treatment option in Hampshire for young people and families.”